Gone With a Trace
by girlwhopwns
Summary: Jamie Bennett was dead -dead as a door nail. So, the question is, who killed him? And, why? Well, that's what Jack Frost and Sophie Bennett have set out to figure out. Then, two mysteries collide when North reveals a crucial pice of information -immortal spirits are weakening, but, the children still believe. Now, how are the two mysteries connected?
1. Chapter 1

_Jamie Bennett was a smart kid. A really smart kid, almost too smart for his own good in fact. When he was ten, he was solving the mysteries of Bigfoot, the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, etc. When he was thirteen, he came close to solving a mystery. This particular mystery was one secret that no one wanted to get out, a secret that everyone was a part of. Someone took drastic measures to keep this secret hidden, and in a matter of days, Jamie was gone. Jamie wasn't smart enough to stop it, but the project was already in motion. No one was that smart._

_At least, that's what they thought._

Jack Frost touched down in the quaint town of Burgess, Pennsylvania. He had visited Jamie last week, bringing him snow days that the young boy never got tired of. They'd made snowmen and even had snowball fights for the history books. Claude, Caleb, Monte, Pippa, and Cupcake had joined them a few times as well, but they all grew weary at one time or another. They still believed, yes, but every child wavers from time to time. They, including Jamie, were already well past the age of when most kids stopped believing, but they would never forget the night that they had practically saved the world. They would always believe.

Normally, Jack visited his first believer more often, but he had gotten a little tied up with a freak blizzard in New York. As the wind flew him to Jamie's home, Jack began to notice several odd things. Burgess, a usually active town, was seriously lacking in the little children playing outside, the adults rushing home from work, and the fire-trucks, ambulances, or police cars. He scrunched his nose in a curious manner. _It's so… quiet, _Jack thought. Then the church bells began ringing. _Who died?_

His curiosity was peaked, and he couldn't wait to ask Jamie about it. Jack landed on the sill of Jamie's bedroom window. Once again, Jack was curious. His icy blue eyes scanned Jamie's window. Jamie's _closed _window. Jamie always left his window open, just in case Jack decided to make a surprise visit. The winter spirit shrugged and decided that his mother had come in and shut the window because it was too cold.

He opened the window and let himself inside. Jack stared at the room. It was the same as always. Mythology books sat on shelves or scattered about with the pages flipped open, textbooks were collecting dust beside his backpack, and clothes were everywhere. But as he stared at the unmade bed, something didn't feel right. A tiny, nagging voice in the back of Jack's head told him that something was wrong. He inched over towards one of Jamie's most coveted mythology books, "1001 Things about Monsters That You Didn't Know."

Jack ran his index finger across the book's cover and brought it to his face. As he got a better look, he saw that his fingers had a thin, gray coating of dust on them. That was completely wrong. Jamie never, _never _left his book at home, let alone untouched. Slight panic built up in Jack's chest, but he fought down the paranoia, and he softly called, "Jamie? Jamie? You here, kiddo?" No answer.

He tried again. "Jamie? Can you hear me?" he asked as he padded towards the closet, recalling the time that Jamie had hidden there to startle him. "Dude, if you're hiding in the closet, I am so going to get you." He flung the double doors of the closet wide open. His eyes were greeted by an empty hamper that had been overturned, clothes dumped out onto the floor. No Jamie. Jack's eyes fell upon a sheet of paper, a note taped to one of the unused hangers. _"Hey mom! Everyone's going over to Claude and Caleb's to study! Let me know if dad comes over while I'm gone. Please tell Sophie that I'll be spending the night. Remember, Claude and Caleb's house is at 4075 Alien Road, love Jamie," _Jack read. He noticed that the writing was un-neat, as if the message had been scrawled quickly.

He shoved the note in his pocket because something told him to keep it. Jack didn't like this feeling that he was getting. Everywhere he turned, something seemed wrong, out-of-place. He decided to search for Sophie, Jamie's five-year old younger sister. She might have known where Jamie actually went or if he had come back yet. He brought himself to Sophie's bedroom, remembering the way because of the many times he had been to the Bennett house.

Once he arrived there, he noticed that Sophie was gone as well. _This is getting really weird, _he thought. Jack looked around the pink room and saw that Sophie's favorite pair of fairy wings lay discarded to the side of her room. As with Jamie's book, Sophie never went anywhere without that pair of wings. She'd once told Jack that she used to wear them for fun, but then she started wearing them because they reminded her of Toothiana. As he had done while looking for Jamie, Jack called for Sophie. "Soph? Are you here? Have you seen your brother?"

When he received no answer, Jack took to looking around the room. He saw Sophie's planner for school lying on her desk. He glanced at the page as it seemed that there was nothing important about it, and then he did a double take. The page that had been left open was tear-stained, and it read, _"Be at the old Church House at 10 p.m. for the service." _It was scrawled in her large, messy handwriting. Jack took the planner as well, on instinct.

"So Soph's gone too huh?" Jack thought aloud. Now, he had two places to check: Claude and Caleb's place and the Old Church House. He thought back to when he was flying over Burgess earlier, when he had heard the church bells. He hadn't thought much about them before, but he was beginning to wonder. A puzzle was starting to form in his mind, and Jack didn't like the picture it was creating. Why would Jamie be gone? If Jamie had really gone to Claude and Caleb's house to study, he wouldn't have left his mythology book behind. Why would Sophie's planner page be covered in tears? What was she crying for?

He pulled out the planner page once more. The more he stared at it, the more he was sure that the tears were fresh. If these were Sophie's tears, she had to have been in her room sometime before Jack showed up. Another question popped into his mind. Why would the page telling her to be at the church be covered with tears?

He was lost in his thoughts, and soon, Jack found himself at the steps of Claude and Caleb's place. The door had been left open haphazardly, and he let himself in. In the living room, Jack saw five history textbooks. He opened the covers for each one, but none of the books held Jamie's name. That only led Jack to believe that Jamie had never gone to Claude and Caleb's house, but he had been somewhere else. Deciding that there was nothing left for him here, Jack began to leave.

As he passed the kitchen, Jack noticed a newspaper sitting on the dinner table. Since nothing else made sense, Jack decided that a look wouldn't hurt. He picked up the paper's ruffled edges and read, _"Local Boy, Jamie Bennett, Killed." _Jack gasped. "No. No, no, no, no, NO!" he screamed. He scanned the rest of the paper for highlights. From the tidbits of information that he had gathered, Jamie had been buried alive by a mysterious source the day that Jack left. He was found hours later, nearly suffocated in a coffin.

"Jamie Bennett, age thirteen, was found last week, buried alive in a coffin located in the woods near the border of Allentown, Pennsylvania. His mother reported him missing only two hours before he was found, the police say. No one knows how it happened, although, those close to Mr. Bennett say that he had been working on solving a case about the disappearances of mythical creatures. Sources have also said that Mr. Bennett was an avid believer in mythological and fantasy creatures alike, often claiming that he'd met Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Jack Frost among others. They say that he had been locking himself up in his room for hours on end, and typing, page flipping, and writing could be heard from the other side of his door. The police deduct that the boy had been abducted from his home during a time when no one else was present. The autopsy done on his body revealed that the lack of air left his body weak, and the paramedics couldn't revive him. The funeral will be held this Sunday at the Old Church House at 10 p.m."

Jack's breath halted. He stared at the paper for quite a while, feeling faint. "Dead. Jamie, my first believer, is dead." All of a sudden, the spirit of winter didn't know what to do. Jamie Bennett was his first believer in 318 years. And now, he was gone. The first kid who'd seen him, heard him, was gone. Dead. And it wasn't an accident.

Jack let out a cry of frustration. He couldn't control the words coming out of his mouth. "MiM, why? Why did it have to be Jamie?" The temperature in the room dropped dramatically, but Jack didn't notice. He just continued to say things he didn't understand, all the questions asking why. "Why would somebody want to do that to a kid?" That was the last question he asked before he rolled up the front page of the newspaper and left the house with it.

The wind knew. It felt his pain, and it understood his silence. It swiftly carried him toward the church house to see the funeral.

Jack's mind and heart raced together, like they were in sync. His thoughts were going hundreds of miles per hour. He thought back to the last time he had seen Jamie.

"_Jack, guess what?" Jamie asked, his brown eyes lighting up. Jack looked at him, obviously wondering what had the boy so excited. "You know that Bigfoot stuff I've been working on? Turns out, there's stuff about him that people don't want us to know. I don't know who yet, but I'll figure that out when I'm finished. I know that they know that I know what they've been trying to hide."_

"_Huh? Okay, that last sentence didn't even make any sense," Jack said, snorting._

_Jamie rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure that the stuff I've been figuring out is totally top-secret. I feel like I'm a secret agent or something, uncovering the truth. I'll get a medal and shake hands with the President!" he said, practically bouncing._

_Jack chuckled. "You know, sometimes you act younger than you actually are."_

"_Well, yeah. If I grow up too fast, I won't be able to see you guys anymore," Jamie said stubbornly. Jack just laughed at him, and Jamie rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure that I'm doing something kind of dangerous. If Toothiana asks what I'm doing, don't tell her. She'll freak out over me as if I'm about to jump over a ledge."_

"_Now you sound more like a teenager," Jack said, ruffling the younger boy's brown hair._

Jack was brought back to the present as the wind gently placed him down on the sidewalk in front of the old church house. His stormy mood was reflected as the sky became cloudy, and the temperature dropped. A light snow began to fall in the quiet town of Burgess, and the winter spirit strolled into the Old Church House.

Everything about the place screamed funeral. White roses and candles were lined up and down the hallway. The lights were dimmed, and soft music was being played on an organ. The funeral had begun. Jack spotted little Sophie sitting beside her weeping parents, hugging her knees to her chest. "Heya, Soph," Jack said softly, coming to sit down beside her.

Sophie looked. Blonde hair covered a spring green eye with gray specks, but the other eye was red and puffy, from crying, Jack supposed. She latched onto Jack's hoodie, forgetting that no one else could see him. She sobbed, and her tears froze against Jack's body. "He's gone, Jack! My brother's gone." Sophie hiccupped. Jack swiftly glanced around to make sure no one saw her, but her parents were too preoccupied with their tears to notice. He hugged her back tightly.

"I know, Soph. I know," Jack said comfortingly, patting her back. It felt to wrong for him to be trying to help someone else feel better when he was just as messed up, but he couldn't help it. Besides, his mind was elsewhere at the moment.

"How did you know, Jack?" she asked between her crying fits. Leave it to the kids to keep asking questions.

Jack decided to tell her everything from the beginning, starting with the last time he'd seen Jamie, and continuing until he pulled out the note he'd found in Jamie's closet. "He left this note in his closet. When I found it, all the stuff in his closet was thrown around, and nothing was where it was supposed to be." He handed Sophie the note, and with much difficulty because of her dyslexia, she read it.

When she finished, she scrunched her brow. "Jamie couldn't have written this. He never went to Claude and Caleb's house. He said he was going to the library, and he never came back."

Now, Jack's paranoia began to come back. "You think that note was a forgery?"

"What's a forgery?" Sophie asked.

Jack sighed. "Nothing. Do you think Jamie really wrote this note? Look at it again. Please."

Sophie re-read the note with less difficulty this time. When she looked back up at Jack, confusion was evident in her young features. "Well… this hand-writing is definitely my brother's, but I don't understand why he wrote it. Why would he say that he was going to Claude and Caleb's if he really wasn't? Maybe there's something else in it. Something right before our eyes that we're missing."

Jack thought that Sophie was on to something, and he felt that the little girl was definitely wise beyond her years. Just then, Jack began hearing whispers as Sophie muttered to herself. He looked up from the girl and saw that Mr. and Ms. Bennett were no longer crying hysterically for the boy they lost before his time, but they were staring at Sophie. Jack realized soon enough. Because they couldn't see Jack, the Bennetts thought Sophie was talking to herself!

Carefully, Jack took the note from the little girl and stood, nudging Sophie. "Hey, Soph, your parents are looking at you like you've lost your mind." As if to reinforce Jack's statement, Ms. Bennett began to nudge Mr. Bennett and whisper more, neither of them taking their eyes off of Sophie. Sophie turned and saw, then asked if she could go to the bathroom to 'wash her face'. Smart kid.

Sophie dashed off to the "bathroom," leaving her parents staring after her with worried expressions. Jack followed, his mind clouded with more questions. If Jamie didn't write the note, who did? Were they trying to frame Caleb and Claude for his disappearance? If Jamie _did _write the note, why would he say he was going somewhere he really wasn't? It made no sense.

Jack turned the note upside down, held it up to the light, marked on it with pencil for indentations on the paper like they did on the detective shows that Jamie watched, and still nothing came up. He did the last thing he could think of. He brought the paper to his nose and immediately recognized the strong scent of the cologne that Jamie's mother had gotten him for Christmas. After that, there was no doubt in Jack's mind that Jamie had written that note. Since Jamie had written that note, there must have been something important about it. He just needed to find out what.

Jack caught up to Sophie by the stairs that led up to the attic of the Old Church House. She had wiped her eyes, and now there was only a bit of redness still on her face. Her eyes were still slightly puffy, but if you didn't look too closely, you couldn't tell that she'd been crying. When Jack approached her, she patted her long black dress that had become wrinkled from running. "I want to go back to where you saw that note, Jack," she said simply after a pause.

He wondered why, but he didn't question her. Sophie had known Jamie longer than Jack, and if anyone could figure out that note, it was her. She was like a kid genius. He looked around and suddenly realized why she had led him here. This was in the opposite direction of the way her parents were facing, and they wouldn't see if they left. If they had tried to go out the side door, Sophie's parents would have seen her. He stared at the open window above the little girl and wondered just how smart the five-year old was.

He hopped out the window, and the wind lifted him up. He reached back in and grabbed Sophie, careful not to let her pull him down. "You're going to have to walk, so carry the corners of your dress so it doesn't get dirty," Jack instructed her.

She pouted. "And why can't you carry me?" Sophie whined.

"Do you know how weird it would look to people if they saw you floating in mid-air on the way back to your house? Not only are people going to think you're crazy, but they're also going to think you're a ghost or something." _Or possessed, _Jack added silently. That Exorcist movie really shook him up.

With this statement, Sophie conceded to Jack's demands, and she began walking through the woods behind the Old Church House with Jack floating above her, giving her directions. A silence ensued that was understanding and reminiscent. Jack understood that Sophie needed time to think and process what had happened to her brother, and Sophie was thinking about the things that had occurred on the last day she saw Jamie alive.

She had been inside, watching Jack and Jamie have a snowball fight with Pippa, Cupcake, Monte, Claude, and Caleb.

_Suddenly, Jamie ran inside of the house, looking slightly frantic. He shuffled through papers on the kitchen counter, obviously looking for something. His features relaxed as he seemingly found whatever he was searching for, and then they hardened again. He read something quickly, frowned, and dashed up the stairs, to his room, and locked the door. He didn't know that Sophie had been watching the whole thing occur from the comfort of the couch._

_Sophie looked at him curiously. After some time had passed after Jamie had locked himself up again, Sophie followed and listened by pressing her ear against the door. She heard hard, sharp strokes of a pen coming from his room. She heard him rip something and tear a piece of tape. After that, she heard several pages turn, and she heard him writing again. The annoying younger sister in her wanted to barge into her older brother's room and demand to know what he was doing, but the smart sister in her told her that she didn't want to be a part of what Jamie was doing._

_Eventually, her curiosity won out, and she raised her fist to knock on the door. Before she could make another move to knock, she heard Jamie get up from his desk and move towards the door. Sophie panicked, and she raced down the stairs as fast as her little legs would carry her. Just as soon as she plopped herself down on the couch and grabbed a book, she heard Jamie's footsteps on the stairs._

_He was smiling like he had been when he was outside, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. Jamie proceeded to return to his snowball fight as if nothing had happened. Then, Jamie started talking to Jack alone._

Sophie stumbled on a rock as she thought of something. She asked Jack a question. "Jack… can I see that note one more time?" Jack handed her the note. It had jagged edges like she had suspected, and a piece of tape had been folded back over the top edge of the paper. "Jack, when you found this note in Jamie's closet, was it _taped _to his hanger?"

Jack thought back to when he found the note. "Yeah, why?" He really didn't see anything significant about whether or not it was taped to the hanger. What did it matter? It was all about what the note said, wasn't it?

"Because, the last day I saw Jamie alive, he came inside from a snowball fight. He read something, and he locked himself in his room again, and I heard him writing with pen. Notice how the note was written in pen? Then, I heard him tearing a piece of tape. After that, he left and went back outside _and talked to you. _I think that note is what he was writing."

Jack's eyes widened. Then, Jamie knew something. He _knew _something before he got abducted, and he tried to write it out in this note. "Is that all you heard?" Jack asked as they neared the Bennett family's front door.

Sophie shook her head in an adorably innocent way. "No. After he tore some tape, I heard him write some more, and I heard him flip some pages."

Jack thought for a moment. If Sophie had heard Jamie writing _after _he had written the note they had found on the hanger, it was possible that Jamie had written another note, possibly telling them how to solve the hidden message in the first one! He voiced his thoughts to little Sophie, and he finished by saying, "If there is another note from Jamie, it'll still be in his room, right Soph?" he said, leading her up the stairs to Jamie's room.

When they entered the deceased boy's room, that uneasy feeling came back over Jack. Something still didn't feel right, but he didn't want to disturb Sophie by voicing his opinions aloud. He led her over to the closet and opened it so she could see inside. "That's the hanger I found the note on," he said, pointing to the object. He saw Sophie frown.

Careful not to mess up her dress, Sophie knelt to search through the messy pile of clothes on his floor, the frown still on her face. "This isn't right. Mom made Jamie clean his closet that morning that he died because dad was coming to visit…" she trailed off. Then, she got an idea. "…Unless when he was taping up the note, he dumped everything out of his hamper because he was hiding something!"

Jack quickly knelt to search along with her. "We don't have much more time left to search through stuff. Your parents won't think that you're in that bathroom 'washing your face' forever." Out of the closet went jeans, shirts, hats, gloves, and sweaters. They searched pockets of pants, hoodies, and jackets, and still nothing turned up. They were both growing quite frustrated as they saw the last item of clothing: a pair of shoes.

"Oh, come on, Jamie! You wouldn't have hidden a secret message in these shoes! They're too far down below everything else!" Sophie said to no one in particular in an exasperated manner while hopelessly throwing up her arms.

Jack shook his head and reached an arm out to keep Sophie from walking away. "Well, we could still try." He stuck one hand in one shoe, then the other, and nothing. She shook the shoes gently like a child would shake a present when they were trying to figure out what was inside.

"See? I told you: there's nothing in there. Jamie must have hidden the second note somewhere else," Sophie said in a know-it-all manner.

Sighing and feeling that Sophie was right, Jack began to stand. Then, his eye caught something, the last thing that was still in the closet: the hamper. Slowly, Jack set the hamper up right, and he heard a deep thud. Sophie jerked her head over at Jack, and they both leapt for it to see what was inside. Jack's eyes widened. "A book." Yes, it was another one of Jamie's books, _"Mysterious Times: They're out there!"_

"That must have been the page flipping that I heard last week!" Sophie cried softly.

"Do you think that Jamie wrote a note and hid it in this book?" Jack asked.

"Well, let's find out."

Together, they searched the book forwards and backwards, but they found nothing. Jack was beginning to get disappointed. This felt like a dead end. He forced himself to keep looking because he owed it Jamie and Sophie. But, where could Jamie have hidden the note if he really did write another one? He tried to think back to the last things he heard Jamie say. Sophie had said that after she heard him writing, he left and went back outside to talk to Jack. That meant that his recollection must have started after hers, and if that were true, Jamie might've been trying to tell him something that would help.

"_You know that Bigfoot stuff I've been working on? Turns out, there's stuff about him that people don't want us to know…"_

"…_I know that they know that I know what they've been trying to hide."_

"_I'm pretty sure that the stuff I've been figuring out is totally top-secret…"_

"_Well, yeah. If I grow up too fast, I won't be able to see you guys anymore…"_

"_Anyway, I'm pretty sure that I'm doing something kind of dangerous…"_

"Jamie was trying to tell me something," Jack murmured. If only he could figure out what… "Bigfoot!" Jack suddenly shouted.

Sophie looked up at Jack, startled. She wondered if all the pressure was finally getting to his head. "Um, Jack? I think you should sit down…" she said in a low voice.

Jack saw the looks he was getting from Sophie. He shook his head to reassure her. "No, no, no," he said. "You said that after you heard Jamie writing the note, he came outside and talked to me. That's where my last memory of Jamie starts. He was telling me something about Bigfoot and how there was stuff he knew that nobody wanted him to find out. I think he was trying to tell me that he knew he was going to get abducted. I'm pretty sure that Bigfoot is the keyword here." He went on talking animatedly while flipping through the pages of the book. "I think he hid it in this book because when I first saw him with it when he was ten, he, Claude, and Caleb were talking about Bigfoot. And-"

"Okay, Jack, I get it. You think that if we go to the Bigfoot page in this book, we'll find a clue about how to solve the first note. Sheesh, you need to work on your rambling skills. You can go on forever," Sophie said, cutting him off. Jack rolled his eyes at her as she took the book and flipped to the article about Bigfoot.

On the page, several things were marked with blue highlighter, red pen, and pencil. pixellated images were taped to the section, and post-it notes were crammed into just about every space imaginable. "Jamie had a bit of an obsession, didn't he?" Jack murmured. He ran his finger over the page, and a post-it note that was loosely attached came off. He fingered it delicately and read it aloud. "Put away Clue board-game. Huh. That doesn't seem very important."

"I'll say. Why would he put that in there if it didn't have anything to do with Bigfoot?" Sophie asked. She glanced at the place where Jack had removed the post-it note from, and suddenly, the reason why it was there made sense. "Jack, look!" she said, pointing.

In the spot where the post it note had been, there was a message from Jamie. "He must've put that post-it there because it said _Clue. _He was telling us that there was a clue hidden under it." Sophie attempted to read it aloud, but her dyslexia was a complete roadblock. "Tinsf Leffen ot Ache? Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Is that some sort of code?"

Jack took the book from the confused girl. He quickly read it and arched an eyebrow at the little girl. "It says: First Letter of Each."

Sophie's cheeks burned red, and she looked away. "I knew that."

"Sure. This must mean that we need to take the first letter of each word in Jamie's message," Jack said. He pulled out the note and re-read it. _"Hey mom! Everyone's going over to Claude and Caleb's to study! Let me know if dad comes over while I'm gone. Please tell Sophie that I'll be spending the night. Remember, Claude and Caleb's house is at 4075 Alien Road, love Jamie."_

"So we need to take the first letter of every word? But that would mean the message said, 'HmEgotCaCtsLmkidcowIgPtStIbstnRCaChiaARlJ.' That doesn't make any sense. Maybe the first letter of every sentence?"

Jack considered it. It made much more sense if the message was first word of every sentence rather than first word of every word. "Then, the message would say, 'HELP…R'. I think he was trying to write HELP. So why would he add that extra part about Claude and Caleb's address?"

"That's not Claude and Caleb's address because there's no such thing as Alien Road. Maybe Jamie's trying to tell us something else…" Sophie proposed, but she got cut off. A ring came from somewhere in the room, alarming them both. "That was Jamie's cell phone."

Jack cautiously followed the ringing sound to Jamie's desk drawer. He opened the drawer and pulled out Jamie's new Samsung Galaxy S 4 and saw that Jamie had just received a text. _Shouldn't this person know that Jamie's dead by now? _Jack thought, confusion showing prominently on his face. He unlocked Jamie's phone by typing in the password MYTH, and his eyes bulged at the text he read.

Sophie appeared, looked over his shoulder, and asked, "Well, don't hide stuff from me. What does it say?"

Jack gulped and read. _"I know what you're doing. Tick tock, time's running out, so you'd better hurry."_

Sophie visibly quaked from the fear. She stared at Jack through her big green doe eyes. "Who-who's it from?" she stuttered.

"…It says 'Blocked Number'," Jack replied nervously.

"W-we should get out of here," Sophie said. Jack had a feeling that they weren't the only two in that room, but there was nowhere for anyone else to be hiding. He handed Sophie _Mysterious Times _and shoved the note in his pocket once more along with the cell phone. He then grabbed Sophie's little hand, with the other hand holding on firmly to his staff, and together, they jumped out of Jamie's window. "Jack, what the heck are you doing?" Sophie screamed hoarsely.

"We've got to get you back to the funeral home," Jack said at last when the Old Church House was in view. "You've already been gone too long, and your parents are probably suspicious. I don't want them to come looking for you and find out that you snuck off somewhere." What he didn't tell her was that he had a sneaking suspicion that they were being watched the entire time. And if they _were _being watched, who was to say that no one had been watching Jack since he first entered the Bennett house?

He set her back down in the place where they had first taken off, and Sophie handed Jack the book. She then took off, leaving Jack to his bothersome thoughts. Why was he even doing this? Was it because he wanted to avenge Jamie? To find out who did it? He didn't know, and in fact, he hadn't even given any thought to it.

Every bone in his body screamed for him to tell the Guardians, and his muscles almost obeyed. In an act of sheer willpower, Jack restrained himself. He knew that this was important, but he didn't want to go to the Guardians with every problem he had. He never relied on the Guardians much anyway, and he wasn't going to risk looking weak or soft.

…Of course, everybody has their moments of weakness, right?


	2. North Says What!

Soon, Jack found himself in a bustling workshop crowded with toys, frustrated yetis, hyperactive elves, and objects that no human had ever seen. He forced himself not to stare at the wonders that floated above him, knowing that he had more important business to attend to. No matter how cool, amazing, or spectacular the things were, Jack had decided that the Guardians needed to know, or at least North.

Jack walked through the workshop towards North's office. Before he could push open the large wooden door, he heard voices. He didn't want to barge in, and his curiosity was peaked. Who was in there?

"…North, I don't like this!" said an unrecognizable female voice. "It shouldn't be happening."

"I agree. I haven't been able to get anything done for the last two weeks!" said a gruff male voice, but it wasn't North's.

"I understand, for it has been happening to me as well. Yetis missing here, elves missing there, memories gone that don't return. Unfortunately, I don't know what we are to do. Manny hasn't spoken, and I do not believe he will speak unless it is direst of circumstances." This time, Jack was sure that this voice was North's, but what could he and the other two voices be talking about?

He had heard North say that elves and yetis were missing, but he hadn't noticed when he came in. What was that about him missing memories, though? That was definitely strange. North was so old, but he was as lively as a person in their early twenties. What could have him aging?

Jack mentally slapped himself. He came here to talk to North, not get sidetracked with something less important. If he was human, he probably would have been diagnosed with ADHD a long time ago. He decided to just open the door, and if he was welcomed, so be it. If he got kicked out, he would start screaming random stuff and saying North every once and a while. It was as good a plan as any, and with that, Jack forced the door open.

The sight that greeted his eyes was astounding. He saw that a woman who looked to be in her early twenties was standing facing North. From behind, he only saw that she had extremely long, dark hair that reminded him of Pitch. At the thought of the Boogeyman, Jack shuddered. A man dressed in a black tux with a red tie stood in the corner of the room with his head down. Who were these people?

Three heads in the room snapped up as they heard the door click behind Jack. North smiled, his big blue eyes full of mirth. The woman's face showed no emotion, and her golden eyes scanned Jack over like he was some sort of science project she wanted to dissect. The man in the tux stared at Jack, his irises literally blood red. Jack shifted under the gazes of the strange people. "Jack! Welcome back, my boy! What brings you to the Pole?"

Jack had honestly wanted to speak to North about Jamie alone, without two strange people in the room. He tried to divert the subject to something less… serious. "Before I say, I have to ask. Who are these guys, and what are they doing here?"

"I should think you'd have more respect for your elders, Mr. Frost," the woman said, still showing no emotion. She wore a dress that was a pale green color, the straps being made out of living vines. They writhed and coiled throughout the fabric as if to give the appearance of trees swaying in a rainforest. The dress cut off at her knees, and underneath, the strange woman with jet black hair wore a pair of khakis the color of sand dunes. As Jack watched, the khakis, he discovered, were _actual _miniaturesand dunes that shifted and changed as she moved. "I am Mother Nature, and I am named Seraphina."

"Cut the kid some slack," the man in the tux said. "He thinks he just lost someone special."

"Huh?" Jack asked, confused. How did he know? Could he read his mind?

"I'm Grimm, bro. As in the Grim Reaper? It's my job to know this stuff. I could tell from the moment that you walked into the room. To me, your emotions were written all over your face." Grimm wore an Italian suit that was completely black. If Jack squinted _really _hard, he would have seen that the shine on the fabric of his clothes was coming from the aura of lives. He wore golden earring studs, and he had pale skin. He grinned at Jack slyly while showing off his crocodile teeth, and he wrapped his arm around Jack's shoulder. "So man, how long has it been? Two hundred, three hundred years?"

Jack was confused, and he let himself get sidetracked for a moment. Something in the back of Jack's mind told him that Grimm had ill intentions, but how could that be? He was such an easy going guy. "Huh?" he asked.

"You know, since that night on the pond."

Jack's features hardened, and he made an effort not to punch this guy in the face. "So you were there. Came to claim my soul, did you?" he said through gritted teeth. He had never thanked MiM so much that he had been reborn as Jack Frost. There was no way that _this _guy was getting his pale hands on his soul.

"Nah bro, I actually wasn't there. I was in town. There was a little girl with pneumonia, and she really couldn't go on much longer," Grimm said. "Poor kid. She was only five, you know. It hurt to see her in so much pain." He noticed Jack's stunned expression. "What? The spirit of death can't have a soft side? Have you no soul? Haven't you ever heard of the expression, 'put them out of their misery'?"

"…Okay. Anyway, what are _Mother Nature _and _the Grim Reaper _doing here, North?" Jack asked, attempting to be polite. The attitude felt foreign, but he didn't want to upset Mother Nature because she seemed like a force to be reckoned with. Quite frankly, she scared the living daylights out of Jack.

"Ah yes, it is strange thing," North replied. "Seraphina has been noticing that her helpers are disappearing, and her powers are slowly becoming more limited. Consequently, nature's been pretty thrown out of balance. Grimm here, well he just can't get things under control. He has been… scatterbrained recently. His skeleton helpers are becoming de-animated, and it's taking more of his strength to regenerate them. And I, I can't even remember things that I'm supposed to never forget, on top of the fact that Yetis and elves are disappearing left and right."

"Could it be that the kids are starting to not believe again?" Jack asked. Two mysteries in one day? This was getting freaky.

North just shook his head sadly. "I wish that were it. That is problem we know how to solve. Unfortunately, lights on Globe are brighter than ever. I just can't understand it. It's not just us, either. Toothiana's mini fairies have been returning from their nightly missions later and later each night, and some don't even return at all. Bunny's eggs are jumping into his dye ponds and not resurfacing, and the kids have been rejecting Sandy's dreamsand. He tries to send streams of it to a child, only to find that it is being blocked by an invisible force or wall of some sort."

"Freaky…" Jack said. If someone was trying to hurt the spirits, who was it, and why would they be so obvious? Another question popped into Jack's mind. If the other spirits were being attacked, why wasn't he? Was he not worth being attacked? Was it because he had no helpers? Was it because the mystery person was trying to turn everyone against Jack?

As Jack's mind reeled with questions, North went on, not noticing the boy's silence. "And you know Lady Luck, the short red head from the Irish division? She's been so clumsy lately, and the people that win the lottery have already won seven times! Some guy wrote a book on that, but I think it's a bunch of baloney and-"

"Nicholas St. North!" Mother Nature shrieked. "If this meeting is just going to be a gossip fest between you two _ladies, _I have business to attend to elsewhere. Good day, sir," she said, looking between Jack and North. After she had made her point, she stormed off. Quite literally, might I add.

Grimm whistled. "Wow. Someone's got some anger issues," he said in a high pitched voice.

"She's been a bit stressed out recently, Grimm. You know that," North said. Then, he looked at Jack pointedly, his eyebrows rising curiously. "Now, Jack, what brings you to the Pole?"

Jack sighed. He had really been hoping to speak to North alone, but Grimm was still there, and there seemed to be no way around it. He lowered his head because he didn't want to see North's face when he said his next sentence. "Jamie Bennett is dead."

Jack heard the sound of ice shattering, and his head snapped up quickly. He saw that North had dropped a little ice toy train for his train set. North was staring at Jack with his eyes wide in unbelief. "Jamie Bennett?" Jack nodded dismally. "…He's dead? But how can that be?"

Grimm said nothing but watched Jack with slight interest, as if he wanted to know why Jack believed that. He hid his smile with his long bangs as Jack produced the front page of the newspaper with the announcement of Jamie's death. "I was just at the funeral with Sophie," Jack said. He explained to North everything about the note and how they went about solving the first part of this mysterious case. "In the end, we figured that the note said HELP, and that the extra part about Caleb and Claude's address held something that we needed to know. Sophie said that the address was fake because there was no such thing as Alien Road in Burgess. Do you think you can help us?"

_This newspaper said that Jamie was researching the disappearances of mythical creatures… I wonder, _North thought. He was almost certain that the two things were connected. If someone was making the creatures of myth and legends disappear, they could have gone after Jamie when he started researching! North voiced his opinions to Jack. "Here," he said, handing Jack a red sack.

Jack looked at it and snorted. "Thanks, North!" he said sarcastically. "This sack will _totally _help me figure out who killed Jamie! Thanks _so _much!" In truth, Jack was thinking about North's theory. If Jamie had been researching why these creatures were disappearing, the abductors must have been affiliated with the guys who were messing with the legendary creatures. But why?

North shook his head at Jack's bluntness. He was a good kid, but sometimes he wondered. "No, Jack. That is my toy sack. It was charmed many centuries ago by Ombric, my magic teacher, so that it would never run out of room. It can shrink or grow in size, but the space inside is endless. Whenever you find something, put it in that bag, and it will be safe. When you need that object again, just concentrate on it, reach your hand in, and you'll pull it out."

Grimm shook his wrist and checked his watch as Jack began putting things in the sack. "Yo, North," he said. He continued once he had North's undivided attention. "I have to get back to the realm. Catch you later." Grimm opened a portal by tapping his golden cufflinks. A black hole opened right up in the middle of the floor, and it appeared to go on forever. Grimm gave a two fingered salute to North and Jack and jumped in.

Jack tied up the sack, and he was surprised to see that not only had it remained the same size as before, but it also remained as weightless. He slung it over his shoulder and leapt for the window on the opposite side of the office. "Thanks, North," he called as the wind carried him back to Burgess, Pennsylvania.

Jack knocked on Sophie's window with the edge of his staff, just to be polite. He found that she had already unlocked it, and he stepped in. He had tied the red sack onto his staff so that he would have a free hand as well as be aware of it at all times. "Soph? You awake?" It was well passed Sophie's bedtime, and he was almost positive that she would be asleep.

Jack had seen the Sandman's dreamsand on the flight in. He decided to check to see if North's statement was true, and sure enough, it was. Jack had peeked into a child's room, and he had waited by the window. When the dreamsand came, it filtered through the window like normal. It neared the child's head, but then, a strange thing happened. As if there were a circular force-field that had surrounded the sleeping kid's head, the dreamsand bounced off and settled on the floor like dust bunnies.

Surprisingly enough, when Jack entered Sophie's room, he found that she wasn't there. Paranoia shot up in Jack's chest, and he breathed in deeply. Had the 'Blocked Number' guy gotten Sophie? He turned in a small circle with his staff held out protectively. He only lowered it when he heard something that sounded like a zipper in the bathroom. He approached with caution and opened the door.

He found five year old little Sophie, sitting on the toilet, zipping up her left boot. She was wearing a black beanie hat, and she had pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She was also wearing a black hoodie with dark blue jeans and black zip-up combat boots. "Ummm…" Jack said, quite shocked at her appearance. Why was she getting dressed? Didn't she know that it was past eleven o' clock at night?

Sophie looked up at Jack sheepishly. "I didn't know if you were coming back, so I was going to uh…" she paused. "…You know…"

"Sneak out?" Jack asked with an eyebrow raised as he pointed at her black bag. "What's in that thing?"

"A couple of flashlights, a pack of batteries, first aid, juice boxes and graham crackers, and Jamie's phone chargers. Normal detective stuff," she said nonchalantly. "What's in your bag?"

"North gave this to me. Apparently, the room inside of it is endless, so all of the clues we found are in here," said Jack. He reached over, grabbed Sophie's bag, and stuffed it inside the toy sack.

Sophie scrunched her nose when she saw the way Jack tied the sack to his staff. "You look like a hobo."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Let's just go looking." He led her over to the window and grabbed her hand with his free one. Together, they leapt out of the room into the cover of night. The moon was full and bright, but the stars were hidden because of all the city lights. The wind guided them for a while until Jack asked, "Where are we going to search?"

"I want to talk to Pippa, Monte, Caleb, Claude, and Cupcake," Sophie replied after a long pause. "They were also with Jamie that last day. If they saw Jamie doing anything weird, or if they saw anyone else being weird around Jamie, they could help us."

"Just how many of those detective shows did you and your brother watch?" Jack mumbled. In a louder voice, he asked, "Well, whose house should we go to first?"

Sophie looked sheepish once more. It was a look that told Jack, 'But wait! There's a catch'. She obviously _didn't _learn it from him though. Right… "Well… you see… the police kind of took them into custody."

Her comment made Jack halt abruptly. Even the wind stopped rustling the braches of the trees below. "What? Did you just say that those kids were taken to jail?" he asked, unbelieving.

She waved her hands frantically. "As suspects!" she cried. Realizing that her statement didn't improve their situation, she cleared her throat and tried again. "I mean, the police wanted to question them about Jamie. They were there on the last day, after all. Their parents wanted them to be free of questioning until after the funeral, so as soon as it was over, the police nabbed 'em and took them down to the station."

"And you somehow failed to tell me this earlier?"

Sophie pouted. "Hey! Like I said, I didn't know if you were coming back."

"You know, you've got a lot of trust issues for a five year old," Jack said, keeping his gaze straight forward so as to avoid the angry glare that Sophie was throwing at him.

The pair soon touched down in front of the police station. As Jack looked inside, he saw that the bright, fluorescent lights were being reflected off of the building's white marble floors. He sighed and hit himself. "I am such an idiot," he groaned. Of course the police station was still open. They couldn't just waltz in there and ask to talk to the suspects. For one thing, no one but the suspects would be able to see Jack. For another, it would look extremely disturbing if a little girl dressed like a robber walked in by herself and demanded to be allowed to question people.

"We need a diversion," Sophie said wisely. "But what?"

Jack stared down at her, and a plan formed in his mind. It was a little risky, and it could have gotten Sophie taken home in the back of a police car, but he was willing. If those suspects in there knew something about Jamie, it was his right to figure out what. He bent down and whispered in Sophie's ear. "Alright, kiddo. Here's what I want you to do…"

Sophie nodded. She took off her beanie and undid her ponytail. She then began to think about her brother and how she would never see him again; she started to cry. She ran inside the police station, fully wailing by then. "Help me," she sobbed. The two police men at the front desk left their stations to come stop her crying as she continued. "There was a man driving a big black car, and he stoled me from my house."

"Don't cry, sweetheart," one officer said.

"We'll find him," said another. "Now, calm down, and tell us what he looked like."

Sophie sniffled. "W-well, he was tall, and he had brownish black hair, and he was wearing sunglasses." This was too easy. She really should have gone into acting.

"Alright. We'll go look for him now," the first officer said. "You stay here." With that, the two men left in search of a fictitious kidnapper.

Jack stuck his foot out and caught the door after he jumped out of his hiding spot in the bushes. He slid himself in and carefully shut the door, making sure that the lock didn't click too loudly. Then, he turned to little Sophie and thanked her. "Now, we have to find out where they keep the suspects for questioning in this place."

Together, they strolled down hallway after hallway. _They've got to have better security in this place, _Jack thought. _How do they keep the suspects from escaping if there's no one around to keep watch? _Then, Jack heard footsteps. Apparently, Sophie had heard them too, because she was trying to tug Jack over to a place to hide. They hid around a corner, holding their breaths until an officer passed by and walked down to the next corridor. Jack never remembered that the man couldn't see him.

He looked down the hallway that they were in. There was only one door, and it was locked. Above it, there was a sign that glowed in green that said, "QUESTIONING IN PROGRESS." Luck was weird that way. He could bet that Caleb, Claude, Monte, Pippa, and Cupcake were all in that room. How were they going to get in there? The only other things in the hall were some trash cans, recycling bins, and a fire alarm. Already, Jack had another plan.

He guided Sophie to a trash can that was much bigger than her, and he set her inside. She complained, but the trash can was empty, so he left her. Making sure the coast was clear, he pulled the fire alarm.

Loud noises blared from the alarm, and Jack covered his ears. Somehow, through all of the noise, Jack heard the door unlock, and he dove into the trash can beside Sophie's, once again forgetting that he couldn't be seen. Something just told him to do it, like it was natural. As Jack peeked up out of his trash can, he caught sight of the last guy running out of the building. He had a strange haircut in his brown hair, as if it were cut into some sort of pattern. He also noticed the man's birthmark on the back of his neck.

Jack sprang up out of the can and reached over to help Sophie. Together, they ran into the Questioning Room, locking the door behind them.

Sophie came face to face with a group of very startled, yet sullen, teenagers. Pippa had already jumped up from her chair, ready to bolt when she had heard the fire alarm. Monte, a teen who habitually had anxiety attacks, was in the middle of a breakdown and cold sweats. Cupcake was staring at Monte irritated, and Caleb and Claude were already trying to climb out of a window. Wait… a window? They could have come in through _the window?_ "Why didn't you guys run when you heard the fire alarm? I know that it was a false alarm, but that doesn't mean you should ignore proper protection protocol," Sophie scolded.

Cupcake rolled her eyes at the little girl. "We saw you guys coming through the window over there," she responded, pointing to Caleb and Claude who were trying to shy away. "The police were still questioning us when we saw, but we didn't draw too much attention to the window."

Pippa was now trying to relax Monte. "We all knew something like this would happen, right Monte? No need to be afraid of the alarms. The mean police men are outside now, okay? Jack and Sophie are here to hang out. If something happens, Jack will protect us because he's our friend."

Monte glared at her because of the babying tone that she was using. "I'm not three, I'm just nervous." Pippa smiled at him sheepishly. Monte then brought his attention toward Jack and Sophie who were still standing in the doorway. "Why are you guys here? I didn't think it was one of your top priorities to meet a bunch of soon to be convicts."

Jack stared at Monte. The usually quiet, shy Monte was being quite bold. What happened to this kid? He had just seen him a week ago. "Don't mind him, bro," Claude whispered. "He always gets like this after an attack."

The winter spirit nodded silently, and he answered Monte. "We want to talk to you about Jamie. We know somebody tried to kill him on purpose, but we also have reason to believe that whoever killed Jamie is also making mythical creatures disappear. It's a theory in the works, but here's what I found out from North." He went on to explain North's theory, and then he showed them the sack. He pulled out the newspaper, and the group passed it around so that they could all see. "Did you guys see anything strange that day?" he concluded.

"We don't have a lot of time, Jack," Monte said. "The fire men are already here, and they're going to get suspicious if there's no fire."

"Just answer the question," Sophie demanded.

"Calm down Sophie. These are your brother's friends, remember?" Jack said. Sophie calmed. This was no time to be playing Good Cop-Bad Cop.

Pippa shifted in her seat. "Well… I _did _see something… odd."

When she didn't go on, Jack prodded, "Well, what was it?"

"On my way to Jamie's house for the snowball fight, I saw a guy in a brown overcoat. At the time, I didn't think it was odd, but it seemed like he was watching Jamie's house. He just stood there, waiting. I just dismissed it because the Bennetts do have a nice house," she said. Her cheeks flushed. "Not that I spend a lot of time looking at it or anything. And, when I went inside, I saw this piece of paper on the counter, but I couldn't read the words. It looked like they were written in some other language. Somehow, it was like looking through a cloud of mist or something. Either way, I saw this pattern on the bottom of the paper."

"A pattern?" Jack asked, remembering the police officer's strange haircut that he had seen before. "What did it look like?"

Pippa thought for a moment. "It looked kind of like a yin yang symbol, but the dots had been removed and placed on the outside of the circle. Oh! And it wasn't black and white, but both sides were different shades of brown."

Well, the way that Pippa had described the symbol, it didn't seem like that was the pattern that Jack had seen in the officer's haircut. Maybe it was just a creative hair choice for the guy? "Did anyone else see anything?"

Cupcake spoke up next. "It didn't happen on the last day, but once I was up in Jamie's room. He let me borrow his textbook to study for a test, but he wasn't home for me to return it. My mom was waiting outside, so I decided to just put it in his room. I set the book on his desk with a post-it note saying that I had been by. He had left his laptop open, and I saw the stuff he was working on with it. I sneaked a peak, and it looked like some sort of government website that Jamie had hacked into. Before I saw anything, a firewall appeared on the screen, and the page disappeared."

"You think that was weird?" Caleb asked. "All you saw was some website. I actually saw some of the mythical stuff he was working on. I had borrowed his flash drive in computer class. I opened the file where my PowerPoint was, but not before I saw a folder named 'CONFIDENTIAL'. Claude likes to call me a snoop, but I'm just naturally curious. Besides, you can't call something confidential and not expect people to want to look at it. I went back and opened the folder, and I saw papers called stuff like, 'Missing Mini-Fairies,' and 'AWOL Egglets'. It was the weirdest thing. Needless to say, I just returned his flash drive and started the PowerPoint over."

Claude and Monte hadn't seen anything unusual, so Jack went on. "Do the police know anything about this?" he asked. He had walked over to the window while Caleb was talking, and he saw that a police chief was arguing with a fireman and another officer. There seemed to be a lot of screaming and arm throwing.

He turned back to the group, and they all shook their heads. "We haven't told them anything about the flash drive or the laptop. Pippa only told them about the man in the overcoat, but nothing about the pattern that she saw," Monte answered. He seemed to be back to his normal self, keeping his answer short and to the point so that he could talk less.

"Well, thanks you guys," said Sophie. "You really helped out a lot. You had better get out of here. It would look suspicious if you were still here when the fire alarm had been pulled." She and Jack took off by jumping out of the now open window. She wondered why Jack kept to the shadows of the trees in the woods, but she didn't voice her opinions. She decided that it was best because although the people below couldn't see Jack, they could still see Sophie.

Jack was thinking about what Caleb, Pippa, and Cupcake had said. First he thought about what Pippa said. That man in the black overcoat could have been the man that abducted Jamie later that day, but why was he hanging out around the neighborhood out in the open where everyone could see him? Then he thought about what Cupcake had said. He had known that Jamie had some pretty good hacking skills, but a secret government database? What did that have to do with finding out why myths and legends were disappearing? It made no sense whatsoever! Lastly, he thought about Caleb. Maybe, if he could get a hold of that flash drive, he might find some information about what Jamie was really doing.

"_I'm pretty sure that the stuff I've been figuring out is totally top secret…"_

"_Anyway, I'm pretty sure that I'm doing something kind of dangerous…"_

Jamie's voice rang in Jack's head. All of a sudden, Jack was sure that if he got that flash drive, he would know. He would know what Jamie was doing in his room all the time, hiding himself from the world. He would know how to solve the case. He would know who killed his first believer and avenge him. "Sophie, did you hear what Caleb said about that flash drive?"

"Yeah, and I know what you're thinking. If we need to find it, we've got to go to the cemetery across the street from the Old Church House. Everyone else thought it was strange that Jamie requested to be buried with his backpack while he was in the hospital, but I think I know why. His flash drive is somewhere hidden in his backpack, and it probably still has those files on it," Sophie said.

The wind carried them to the cemetery. "Jamie was buried today, so the dirt should still be fresh," she continued. "I think I remember the way, but if we're going to get that flash drive, we're going to have to dig up Jamie's grave."

"Isn't that illegal in the United States?" Jack questioned, raising an eyebrow at the young girl. Just what kind of TV was she watching these days? Had Barney gone Terminator when he wasn't looking?

"Not if you don't get caught," Sophie answered. "Isn't that your philosophy?" She grunted as she reached for the red toy sack tied to Jack's staff. When she couldn't reach it, she looked at Jack innocently. "Jack, can you hand me a flashlight so that we don't get lost in a dark cemetery around midnight with a bunch of creepers and hobos?"

Jack handed her a flashlight, and they touched down near the middle of the cemetery. His feet crunched on the dead grass, and Sophie clicked on her flashlight. She led him around, every once in a while turning off the flashlight when she thought she heard something. Finally, she whispered to him, "His grave should be right around here." They turned the corner to see a new gravestone inscribed, 'HERE LIES JAMIE BENNETT, YOUTHFUL FOREVER, MAY HE R.I.P.'.

Where Jamie's untouched grave should have been, there was a pile of overturned dirt. Sophie scowled. "This isn't right. When they buried Jamie, his grave was much neater than this. Someone else has been here." She held her flashlight out a good distance from her, and the light shined farther. She walked all around the grave, shining her light. "This is really weird. The ground here is muddy from that brief snow before. If someone really was here, they would have left some kind of footprint, unless they were floating, which humans can't do."

As she was thinking aloud, Jack was staring at the grave. Who had been here? Only when Sophie said 'unless they were floating' did Jack begin paying attention. He thought back to his meeting with North at the Pole and how Grimm had seemed to know what was going on. He was a spirit as well, so it was possible that he had the ability to float, and he _was _the spirit of death. But why would Grimm dig up Jamie's grave? True, he had an alibi that seemed strong. He had said that since he was the Grimm Reaper, he could tell. But, it seemed like there was more to the story than he was sharing.

Jack and Sophie knelt down at the grave, and together, they removed the overturned dirt. They found Jamie's coffin and removed it from the ground. Carefully, and with reverence, they yanked the lid off. There laid Jamie, pale and unmoving. The light barely illuminated his face, but as far as they could tell, the body definitely belonged to Jamie Bennett. Next to him was a blue backpack that was completely full. The two grave robbers shared a glance and dug into the backpack with a new fierceness after seeing the poor boy sleeping eternally.

Sophie gingerly opened the backpack. She dumped out school papers, text books, extra clothes, and everything else out. You would have thought that the kid didn't even use his locker. They searched through everything, and there was no flash drive to be found. Just as Jack was about to give up, he heard a ring. It was faint, as though it were coming from a far away place. At first, Jack thought that someone was coming, but then he recognized the ring. It was Jamie's phone.

Sophie watched as Jack dug through the red toy sack. She was trying to keep from shaking for Jack's sake because she knew how hard he was working to keep her relaxed. She watched him pull out the phone and put in Jamie's passcode. Then, she saw his eyes widen. "Is it from the Blocked Number?" she asked. When he didn't answer, she said, "What does it say?"

"He said, um… he said, _'Were you looking for something? Too late. But, look, the sun's coming up. Isn't it about that time when Sophie's mom comes to check on her?'_" Jack answered. He had already begun to stuff the papers into the red sack. They didn't have time to search through the papers at that moment, but they might have need for them later. He stuck the backpack into the grave where it had been, and he and Sophie lowered the coffin back into the ground. They covered the grave back up, neater, and the pair took off.

They arrived at the Bennett house in silence. Jack entered into the little girl's bedroom through the window, and he set her down. "Come back tomorrow, Jack. We need to keep working," Sophie said.

Jack nodded, his mind somewhere else. The last thing he saw her do was get into her bed and pretend she was sleeping. He jumped out of the window once more, and the wind caught him. He flew aimlessly, still keeping to the shadows of trees in the woods. So, the 'Blocked Number' guy was watching them dig up the grave. That was the only way Jack could think of for how he knew to text them about Sophie. But, if the 'Blocked Number' guy had been watching them, did that mean that he was with them in the cemetery? And if he was, did that mean that he was the one who dug up Jamie's grave?

Sophie had said that whoever had dug up Jamie's grave didn't leave any footprints. That would mean that whoever dug up Jamie's grave was able to float, which also would have made him inhuman. His mind immediately wandered back to Grimm. He had been quick to get out of North's office as soon as North gave him the red sack. Also, Jack couldn't shake the feeling that Grimm was bad news.

Of course, logic told him that Grimm just gave off that kind of feeling. Once again, he was the personification of death, after all. Jack knew he shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. In almost every detective show that he and Jamie watched, the guy who jumped to conclusions was usually the guy who disappeared next, so he knew he had to be rational about this situation. He needed outside help.


	3. Whoops!

**(A/N): Whoops! I forgot to mention that there are going to be cultural references in every chapter. Congratulations to those of you who caught them! I think that I'm going to hold a little contest between the reviewers, if that's okay with you guys. So, I'm going to ask you a question about each cultural reference, and the first person to review with the correct answers for ALL of the questions will get a PM from me. What will be in this PM, you might ask? It will be a hint for the **_**next **_**chapter. Makes things a bit more competitive, doesn't it? Which is really weird since I'm not a competitive person at all. ^.^;**

**So, here's the questions for chapter one!**

**Alright, so the first question is: Why did I make Sophie a five-year old genius? There were hints in the chapter, if you picked up on them.**

**The second question is: Why did I choose to give Jamie a Samsung Galaxy S4 when I could have given him any other type of phone? This one is a bit trickier than the last one, so you may use Google to figure it out. (Hint: It has something to do with the colors... ;))**

**The last question is: What character is Jamie's death based upon, and what show is she from? That's all I'm giving you for now.**

**Oh! And by the way, since this is a mystery, I'm using this contest to help you sharpen your sleuthing skills. Who knows? You could solve the mystery before Jack and Sophie do.**

**Now, here are the questions for chapter 2!**

**Why did I say that Jack could have ADHD? If you figured out the reason why Sophie is the way she is, then this one should be easy for you. They kind of tie in together.**

**Speaking of things that tie into each other, who do you think that the text messages are a reference to?**

**That book about the guy who won the lottery seven times was a real thing. Who wrote it, and what was it called?**

**What do you guys think about Jamie hacking into a secret government database? This one is more of an opinion rather than a cultural reference, but, I'd still like to see what you think!**

**That's all for now. Oh! And, you are allowed to use the internet in case you don't know.**

**Goodbye, my pwners. Yeah, I'm going to call you that, so get used to it.**


	4. Projections and Protection

Sandy was getting frustrated. He had half a mind to stop in Burgess, visit a certain abandoned bed in the middle of the woods, and have a _friendly chat_ with a certain unsuspecting Boogeyman. Who else could be responsible for all of his dreamsand being rejected? Giving dreams to every child in the world was quite a tiring task, and there he was, trying to do his job only to find his work to return to him void.

The tiniest thing could have made him snap. Some very unflattering pictures of the Boogeyman fluttered above his head as he heard someone approaching. He prepared a sand whip because he was especially angry that night. No good dreams had been given to kids in three weeks, can you believe it? Without looking, the Sandman whipped at something from behind him.

"Sandy! What was that for?" a familiar voice called.

Sandy dropped the whips and turned around to face Jack. Pictures flew above Sandy's head at the speed of light. He hoped that Jack got the message.

"Yeah, Sandy. I get it, you're stressed out. North told me," Jack replied.

The winter spirit would never understand how happy it made Sandy to be understood. He recalled a time three years ago when the Guardians had met at the North Pole. He was waving, jumping, signaling like mad to get the Guardians' attention, but the only thing that could get them to look at him was when he grabbed an elf and shook its bell to make a sound. Silence was such a roadblock sometimes. Above his head he showed a question mark, a picture of Jack, North at the North Pole, and himself.

"I was getting to that. To sum it up, Jamie's dead, and I went to North for help."

Sandy's mouth fell open, and an inaudible scream came out… or didn't come out. You get the point. More pictures flashed above his golden blonde hair. By now, Jack had decided to sit down on Sandy's golden dreamsand cloud like a patient at his therapist. The pictures shown were Jamie's face, a knife, a gas mask, a mysterious man, and another question mark.

Jack shook his head. "No, he wasn't killed with a knife. Actually, he was kidnapped and placed in a coffin, where he almost suffocated. Then, when people found him, they rushed him to the hospital after a few hours. The paramedics couldn't revive him." Jack was getting really tired of telling this story. He just handed Sandy the front page of the newspaper so that he could read what happened.

Seriously. How was Jack supposed to move on with the case if every five minutes, he having to retell Jamie's tragic story to someone who was out of the loop? After Sandy had finished reading, Jack asked, "So… I wanted to get some information from you about Grimm."

Sandy raised an eyebrow, giving Jack a questioning glance. "I met him and Mother Nature at the North Pole earlier today when I went to talk to North. So… do you know anything about him?" Before Jack could ask another question, Sandy took a ball of dreamsand and threw it in Jack's face. Before Jack could say another word, he was out like a light. He slept soundly on Sandy's dreamsand cloud.

In Jack's dream, he was somewhere extremely dark. He was familiar with the Sandman's dream techniques, but this dream seemed to have a mind of its own. It took him wherever it wanted to go, and as far as Jack knew, that place was nowhere. He heard low whispers all around him. Jack went to protect himself with his staff, only to find that it was missing. Suddenly, he felt bare, like one of his limbs was missing. His dream self drifted through the darkness.

All of a sudden, he heard a familiar, yet bored voice. "Number seventeen, what did I tell you about sneaking out without my permission?" _Grimm? _Jack thought. Sure enough, the blackness parted to reveal that Jack was within Grimm's realm, that he had appropriately named the Underworld. It was slightly luxurious, what with the red velvet carpets and curtains, but it was almost too dark for Jack to see them. The only thing that gave him light was the torches of blue fire that were on the walls or hung from the chandelier in the ceiling.

As dream Jack looked around, he saw that he was in a long corridor. At one end, he could see Grimm scolding one of his de-animated corpse helpers, and the other end revealed thousands of doors. He couldn't help it if he was curious. Who wouldn't be? There were a thousand doors! Of course, there was no time to check them all out. Besides, who knew what horrors awaited behind those closed doors? An army of skeletons?

He returned his attention to Grimm and the skeleton. He inched past velvety chairs with golden frames and hid behind Grimm's throne. Grimm stiffened as if he had sensed the winter spirit, and Jack paused cautiously. When Grimm relaxed, so did Jack, and Grimm continued scolding the skeleton. Jack peered around the throne and stared at Grimm. He appeared at least ten feet taller when he was in his own realm.

The skeleton was a different story. He was actually disturbed by what he saw. Not afraid, just disturbed. The skeleton was wearing a pair of skinny jeans that hung too loosely on its bones, and the shirt from Abercrombie & Fitch wasn't exactly being worn by the attractive all American kid, if you know what I mean. Apparently, Skeleton Number Seventeen was actually a teenage girl…skeleton…thing. "To not to," Skeleton Number Seventeen said sullenly.

Grimm snorted and conjured up a spell. The corpse became skin, flesh, and bone, albeit pale skin. Now, Skeleton Number Seventeen had short, curly orange hair that stuck out to the sides. Not red, _orange. _Grimm flung a large top hat back at her, and Skeleton Number Seventeen squealed with glee and hugged the hat as if it were her only joy in life… afterlife. Whatever.

Grimm stood up from his throne with one last hesitation before walking down the corridor and disappearing behind one of the doors. Jack cautiously escaped from his hiding place behind the throne as Skeleton Number Seventeen walked away. "What the heck was that?" Jack muttered, maybe a bit too loudly.

Skeleton Number Seventeen whipped around. She saw Jack, and her blood red irises stared at him quizzically. Was this a new skeleton that Grimm hadn't told her about? He sure looked like one in the blue light, what with his thin frame and pale skin. Oh no! She had scared the new guy! She could tell because he was quaking slightly, and he was slowly trying to edge away from her gaze. "Hiya!" she said. Whoops. Too perky. "You must be the new guy. I'm Svetlana Seventeen, and I'm crazy. Who are you?"

Jack stared. Should he lie and say he was lost so he could get out of there? Should he tell the truth so she could help him escape? He honestly didn't want her help; she was too creepy. "I'm Jack," he responded, keeping it simple.

Svetlana squealed. "Jack? Jack as in _Jack Sparrow? _Is that an alias?" she gasped. "Are you Johnny Depp? Oh My Grimm, Oh My Grimm! I love Johnny Depp. I even died my hair and curled it to look like his hair in one of his movies, see?" Jack stared in horror as Svetlana pointed to her orange corkscrew hair. "And- and I snuck on the set and got his top hat. Isn't it amazing?" He had actually met one. A real life, flesh and bone, fan girl. Of all the disturbing things he had seen, this was by far at the top of the list.

She gasped again. "Are we on the set of one of your movies? Sorry, Mr. Depp, sir. I'll get out of your shot!" she said, about to hurry away. How embarrassing! Getting in the middle of a movie shot of all things. Had she really gone that low?

Jack grabbed her arm. "No! No, my name really is Jack."

Svetlana nodded her head as if she understood. "Oh, I get it. You celebrities need your privacy. So, you're Johnny Depp incognito, right?"

Jack shook his head disbelievingly. How could she be so oblivious to the fact that he looked _nothing _like Johnny Depp? "No, my name really _is _Jack!" he said, a bit more forcefully.

"Oh, okay, _Jack,_" she said, winking obviously. Jack sighed. "What can I do for you?"

There was no way around it. "I've been stuck here in a dream, and I need to get out. Can you help me?"

Svetlana nodded and began leading him to one of the strange doors at the end of the corridor. "That's the funny thing about dreams. You think you're dreaming, but everything feels so real, right?" She stared at the ceiling strangely. "I mean, I'm real, right? I know I'm not a figment of your imagination because the me right now is just a projection."

"A projection?" He hadn't meant to strike up a conversation with this oddball, but he couldn't help it. This was interesting stuff.

Svetlana nodded as they turned a corner. Jack noticed that her feet were barely touching the ground, and she was glowing with a strange blue light. It must have had something to do with that spell that Grimm had cast on her. "Right now, I'm millions of miles away, and so are you. When you dream, the people you see inside of your dreams are real people, but they are just projections. In a way, they allow people to be in two places at the same time."

"Can everyone 'project' or whatever?" Jack asked.

"Everyone, with a little practice. Projection is an art. I'm just a rookie, but when you started to dream that you were here, the projection came naturally. I can also project my projection, but it requires much more of my strength. Watch," she said. Suddenly, Jack felt as if he had crossed his eyes. Svetlana now had a second Svetlana standing next to her. The first tilted her head, and the second did so as well. Freaky.

"See, there is one side effect of projecting. Since it requires a lot of energy to project outside of a dream, I would have to sleep for long amounts of time. But, since I'm essentially just a skeleton, I don't sleep. I think that there was another one, but I kind of forgot it. Maybe I grew out of it."

"So, every time you project outside of a dream, you're just draining yourself?" Jack asked. This projection information was interesting. Could someone really use projection to be in two places at once? A thought occurred to Jack. Whoever was in the cemetery with them, probably the 'Blocked Number' guy, wouldn't have left any footprints if he were a projection. He put a hand out to touch Svetlana's second projection to check his theory. Sure enough, his hand passed through.

"Yep. I know that I can't sleep because I've already tried everything. I've even touched some of Sandy's dreamsand, but it just falls through my fingers." Suddenly, she sighed wistfully. "Are his dreams really as nice as they say?"

"Yeah, yeah, they're great. Now, which one of these doors leads out of here?" Jack asked, impatient. He needed to get out of there! He and Sophie needed to look over those papers they found in Jamie's backpack for anything helpful. The sooner that he got out of that dream with that Wackadoo, the sooner he could get to Sophie.

Stubbornly, Svetlana ignored him. "I was only able to try it a couple times. Grimm doesn't like it when I leave the realm. I don't know if you heard him earlier, but boy was he mad at me! I snuck out to go see that new movie, _The Lone Ranger_, with a couple of my other friends, but the Reaper Guards caught us as we were coming back. I got it the worst though. I'm supposed to be the oldest. 1,700 years of living in the realm is supposed to make you wiser, but I think it just makes you insane, being cooped up and all, and-"

"Svetlana, you're rambling," Jack commented, using Sophie's phrase. Maybe, if he could find some way to ditch her, he could find the exit by himself. Was she really this scatterbrained? And what about all those mood swings? One minute, she was light and airy, and the next she was brooding and mysterious.

"Fine," she grumbled. She turned a quick corner, and opened a small door. It was about the size of a mouse hole, and there was no way Jack could fit through it. His hand couldn't even fit through it! "Get through there, and you'll be back wherever you came from."

"What the heck! I can't fit through there!" Jack was getting fed up with this girl. She was most definitely a piece of work.

Svetlana huffed. "I was going to tell you how to get through it, but you cut me off because I was 'rambling'. Now, if you don't mind," she said, glaring at Jack pointedly. "I would like to show you how to get out."

She closed her eyes and focused. The second projection of her began to shrink, and the first Svetlana began to glow a blue color. The second Svetlana squeezed through the tiny mouse door and made it to the other side. "There," Svetlana said proudly, opening her eyes. "I just showed you how to get through the door."

"…But you're still here," Jack said bluntly.

"Well, duh. If you were listening, I told you that I wasn't allowed to leave the realm. If I were to actually leave the realm, I would just appear back here, thanks to the spell Grimm put on me."

"So, how do I get to the other side, then? I don't know how to project," Jack said. At this comment, Svetlana grabbed onto Jack's shoulders. Her eyes glowed a pale blue color, and Jack felt like his atoms were splitting in two. If they were to join back together, would Jack explode like an Atom Bomb? She took her hands off of Jack's shoulders, and she waved.

Why was she waving from up there? Why was she so big? It literally took Jack seconds to realize that she had shrunk Jack's dream projection to fit through the door. He quickly passed through it and saw Svetlana's second projection on the other side. He uttered a quick thank you as she gave an impatient huff, and he awoke.

When he awoke, Jack was on his pond. How he had gotten there, he didn't know. Did he fall off of Sandy's dreamsand cloud somewhere along the ride? "Ugh, I feel like I was stuffed into some sort of box," Jack groaned as he stood and stretched. He looked around and grabbed his staff, glad to have it back within his grasp. The sun was already far above the horizon that mysterious Monday morning. _Monday, _Jack thought. _Sophie has school. _How were they going to investigate if Sophie was in school, learning about who knew what?

That problem had a simple fix. Jack decided to give the town a surprise snow day even though it was a little late. As the snow fell and the inches piled on, Jack flew to the Bennett house. Inside, little Sophie was already awake.

It had been hard for her to fall asleep. After all, the night that she'd had was pretty exhilarating. But, that pattern that Pippa was talking about sounded familiar. She had tossed and turned all night. As Pippa described the symbol, Sophie had had no trouble picturing it in her mind. But how? Had she seen it somewhere before? Had Jamie done a report on it for school one year?

Suddenly, a memory hit Sophie like a boulder, and she sat up in her bed quickly. _Jamie's backpack, _she thought, her eyes widening in epiphany.

_Jamie had come home from school by way of the bus like he had always done. He entered the house, his muddy shoes getting wet dirt all over the floor. He flung off his backpack and dashed into the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge. "Soph, could you put my bag up for me?" he asked._

_Sophie rolled her eyes at his laziness. Where would he be without her and her mother? She hefted his backpack up off the floor, and she carefully carried it to the laundry room. She set it down and was about to head out when something caught her eye. _

_Don't get me wrong; Sophie had seen her brother's backpack many times before. There wasn't really anything special about it. It was a blue bag with multiple pockets and zippers. There were a few doodles here and there, but nothing that really made it stand out. Today, however, there was a small symbol in the corner._

_It was small enough to not be noticed unless you were really looking at it, but it was large enough for you to see it well. There was a perfect circle drawn in brown Sharpie in the bottom right corner of the bag, as if it had been traced a with stencil. A lighter color brown divided the circle and made it look like a yin yang. Two small brown dots were located outside of the circle, one lighter and the other darker._

_As Sophie stared at it, her eyes became foggy, and her mind was less focused. She decided that the symbol was just something that Jamie had drawn while he was bored, and the fogginess was just the beginning of a head ache. She left the bag on the washing machine, turned off the light, and left the room._

_Every now and then Sophie would sneak a peak at the strange symbol. Later that month, Sophie was diagnosed with dyslexia._

"…But, that memory doesn't make sense," Sophie said aloud. "The backpack that we found in the graveyard didn't have that symbol on it. No one could have washed it off because it still had all those other doodles on it." _But it also didn't have the flash drive in it either. It seemed like almost everything that could've been in his locker was in that bag. _"…Unless that bag wasn't really Jamie's backpack. Maybe, they buried Jamie with his actual backpack, but whoever dug up Jamie's grave wasn't looking for his flash drive. They were trying to get to his backpack! And- and if they took Jamie's _actual _backpack, then the papers that we have came from the decoy."

At that exact moment, Jack appeared at Sophie's window, bringing dark snow clouds with him. She sprang out of bed and threw up her window, glad that she was still awake enough to tell Jack her discovery. "Well, there goes my theory," Jack grumbled.

"Huh?"

Jack recounted his adventure during the night, explaining projections and other nonsense to Sophie. He told her his theory about how whoever dug up Jamie's grave must've been a projection, and he warned her to avoid insane, fan girl skeletons. "So, what do we do now?"

Sophie sighed. "Well, I've got to go to school…" she trailed off.

Jack looked at Sophie playfully. "I thought you knew me better than that, Soph. Have a little faith," he said, punching her in the arm lightly. "Check out your window."

She looked outside and saw that there were inches piled upon feet of snow outside. No one would dare hold school in weather like that, and more importantly, no one would be outside to interrupt their investigation. It was a winter wonderland outside. Sophie smiled to herself. It was awesome. She quickly hugged Jack and dashed inside of her bathroom to change clothes.

When she returned, she was fully equipped for the snow day, but she was not going to be playing in the snow that day. She was wearing an all white outfit so that she would blend in better if she had to hide. The all black that she had been wearing the night before would have been a poor choice. "Mom! I'm going over to Macy's today! There's no school," Sophie called as she ran downstairs. Jack was going to be waiting for her outside, and they had to get started investigating early.

"Y-yeah, sure. Have fun," her sleepy mother answered from her bedroom. She must've cried herself to sleep last night. Sophie felt bad, but she was going to find out who killed Jamie. And when she did, her mother wouldn't be so sad anymore. It was perfect logic, duh.

Sophie ran outside, looked around to make sure that the coast was clear, and dashed into her backyard. There Jack was, waiting for her. "How'd you get out of the house so fast?" He didn't think Sophie's mother would be very enthusiastic to let her child go so quickly after she lost her first one.

"I told her I was going over to Macy's house," Sophie quipped.

"Macy?" Jack asked. He had never heard Sophie talk about her before.

Sophie shook her head at Jack's apparent confusion "She doesn't exist. I made her up to get out of the house. Now, we need to get back to that cemetery."

"You want to check out that backpack again? In broad daylight?" Jack asked incredulously.

Sophie scoffed at Jack. "Of course not! Don't be ridiculous. I want to check out the site again."

No better idea was proposed, and the wind flew the duo the cemetery. They touched down. Jack hadn't been in this area of Burgess, so the ground still had no snow. Their feet crunched on the ground as they walked back toward Jamie's grave. Jack stared at the pile of dirt that he had seen the night before. If he squinted hard enough, the dirt appeared to glow with a strange blue light. It looked familiar, but he couldn't place it.

Sophie proceeded to go around the base of the headstone. "Aha!"

"Aha what?" Jack asked, coming around to Sophie's side. "What did you see?"

"I couldn't see it last night. If we use your theory about Grimm and my theory about the backpack, we can be one step closer to solving this case. Look all around the base of the stone. See how it glows with a _really _faint blue light? That tells me that your theory about the projections could be true. Since Grimm isn't a skeleton, it wouldn't require a lot of energy for him to project himself. That means that at the same time that he was at the North Pole, he could have been projecting part of himself over here."

"And that would mean that he could be in two places at once! If he were here digging up the backpack while I was at the Pole, he could have switched them out, and we never would have guessed. But, wait. That could also mean that the projection of him was solid. I've touched a projection, and it wasn't solid," Jack said ponderously.

"Well, there goes that theory. But, if a projection has to be solid, why is there blue light surrounding the grave? What else could have caused it?" Sophie asked. They stood there in quiet silence for a while. If anyone had passed by, they would have assumed that Sophie had paused to take a moment of silence to remember her brother. What was actually happening was that Sophie was feeling like she had run into a dead end.

All of a sudden, a new hope sprang up in Jack. "Wait, if there's a decoy in that grave, then Jamie's real backpack has to be somewhere. We just have to find it."

Sophie agreed. Quickly, she turned to Jack. "If we're going to find out who killed Jamie, we need to solve this mystery like Jamie would. If you were Jamie pretending to be Jamie's killer, where would you hide that backpack?"

Jack arched an eyebrow. "Are you okay? You sound tired. That last question didn't even make any sense."

Sophie scowled. "I had a rough night, okay? Deal with it," she said harshly.

"Note to self: Always let Sophie get twelve hours of sleep," Jack mumbled to himself.

Sophie didn't hear, and Jack was glad. He would hate to feel the full wrath of a five year old genius. "Where to now?" she asked. All of her suggestions had come to dead ends, or so she thought. Either way, the duo's next objective was to find Jamie's real backpack.

"Back to Jamie's room," Jack said decidedly. "I remember seeing it there when I landed in Burgess yesterday morning." When Jack had first seen the backpack, he hadn't thought much of it. Why would he have? He hadn't even known that Jamie was dead. Now that Jack thought about it, he realized that the backpack was more important than they thought.

_What if it wasn't us that the 'Blocked Number' guy was watching? What if it was the backpack? _Jack thought. It was possible that whoever killed Jamie was also the one who dug up Jamie's grave to switch the backpacks. If so, he probably couldn't get to the real backpack while Jack and Sophie were in the house, so he distracted them to get the duo off his trail. That would mean that while Jack and Sophie were digging up the decoy, the 'Blocked Number' guy could have been inside, retrieving the real backpack.

Since Jamie asked to be buried with his backpack, it would be extremely suspicious if an identical one was found in his room. But, why was the backpack so important? Jack knew. It was the flash drive that they were all after because it would reveal all of the answers. They raced on the wind through the sky back toward the Bennett house.

The sight that greeted the duo's eyes once they reached the late boy's room was astounding. It looked as though Ms. Bennett had swept into the room and practically rearranged everything. Mythology books and fairy tale books actually sat neatly on Jamie's bookshelf. When had that ever happened? All of Jamie's drawings of the Guardians had been taken down off the walls, and his clothes were placed neatly in the hamper. Textbooks sat on the desk like normal.

More importantly, Jamie's backpack was nowhere to be found. "Did your mom come through here, Soph?" Jack asked, staring in awe at the clean room. Turns out, there really was a floor in there. Who knew?

"This isn't right," Sophie frowned. "My mom couldn't have come through here. For one thing, last night, my mom couldn't even bring herself to look at this room. Also, on my way downstairs earlier, I passed by here. It was the same as yesterday."

Simultaneously, the two came to the same conclusion. "Someone snuck in here while we were in the cemetery," Jack said gravely. How could he have been so careless? He obviously didn't fly fast enough. It was completely his fault, and now he had let little Sophie down. "Look, Sophie, I'm so sorry that-"

"Sh. What are you apologizing for?" Sophie asked. "We have better things to do right now than feel sorry for ourselves." She wandered around the room, inspecting things carefully. "Whoever entered Jamie's room and cleaned it must have left some sort of clue or accidentally dropped a critical piece of information. Let's look for it."

Somehow, Jack was shocked by the young girl's hope. Now he understood why she was Bunnymund's favorite believer. He took to searching along with her, and minutes later, they turned up with nothing. "I don't get it. How could someone be stealthy enough to sneak into a second story building, steal a backpack, clean a room, and get off scot-free?" Sophie asked, frustrated.

Jack stared. It was like the answer was right under his nose, but he was too blind to see it. Literally. He was staring at a piece of paper on Jamie's desk, and his vision was all foggy.

"…_And, when I went inside, I saw this piece of paper on the counter, but I couldn't read the words… somehow, it was like looking through a cloud of mist or something. Either way, I saw this pattern on the bottom of the paper."_

Pippa's words bounced around in Jack's mind, and he found himself looking for a pattern on the paper. He held it up to the light, and sure enough, there was an impression on the paper. He stared at the strange impression. It was the yin yang reminiscent symbol that Pippa had described! His eyes felt like they were crossing, and he had to tear them away from the paper. "Soph! You gotta see this."

Jack handed Sophie the paper while rubbing his eyes. He was sure that he had seen some words on it, but they were all unreadable. It was like the letters were all jumbled. When he opened his eyes, everything looked fuzzy, like it was coated in a fluffy, white blanket. He shook his head, and his regular sight returned. _Odd… _Jack thought.

Somehow, Sophie could read it just fine. "My dyslexia usually jumbles letters around," she said. "But if the words are already jumbled, my dyslexia must make them look normal."

"So what does it say then?" Jack prodded.

Sophie cleared her throat unnecessarily and began. _"Greetings, Sophie Amelia Bennett and Jackson Overland Frost. I have come to recognize you as close associates of the late Jamie Bennett, and therefore, you are of particular interest to me. Unfortunately, you have decided to undertake the Case of Jamie Bennett and the Missing Myths. This means that I can no longer protect you from my associates. I am giving you a choice. You can either give up this investigation and be safe from harm, or you can continue and face inevitable punishment. I believe that the best choice for you is obvious, but either choice benefits my colleagues and me. This is your pick. –Sincerely, B.J."_

All of a sudden, Jack wasn't so sure he could go through with this investigation. He wasn't worried for himself as much as he was worried for Sophie. She wouldn't survive if they were suddenly attacked because she wasn't immortal like Jack. Sophie was not only his friend, but she was also an obligation. He was a Guardian, so by law, he was required to protect Sophie. If she were threatened, wouldn't it be his job to keep her out of harm's way?

Not only that, but Jack could feel himself losing his center. He was the Guardian of Fun, but the last two days had been the most serious of his life, well besides the Blizzard of '68. He had come down to Burgess expecting snow days, laughter, and good times. What he got was mysteries, murder, and threats. How much more could he take before he lost himself completely?

He voiced his thoughts aloud to Sophie with a serious demeanor. She stared at him a while and walked closer to him until she was standing right in front of him. Ever so gently, she reached up a tiny hand to his face. She brought it back and proceeded to slap Jack in the face multiple times until his cheeks were sore. "OW!" he screamed. "What the bloody heck was that for?"

Sophie's face was calm. "You were being an idiot," she said nonchalantly.

"Thank you Dr. Bennett for clearing that up for me," Jack said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and trying to bring feeling back into his face. "How could I ever thank you?"

"No, what I mean is, you said something really dumb. If someone is trying to stop us now, that means we must be getting really close to the truth. Come on, haven't you ever watched an old detective show? The freelance detective _always _gets put down by the police. Well, the detective never gives up, and he's always the one who solves the case."

Jack stared at her. "There's no way you're five."

Sophie chuckled nervously, like she had something to hide. "My mom played Beethoven and Bach when I was a baby, and I always watched old Sherlock Holmes movies with my brother. Stuff like that sharpens your critical thinking skills. Now, we have to keep working on this case."

Jack took the paper back. He didn't want to risk looking at the symbol again for fear of what it did to his eyes the last time. He stuck it in his red toy sack. Instantly, he thought of something. _North. _He was almost positive that there was some sort of spell on that symbol. If anyone knew anything about magic, it was North. Jack recalled hearing him talk about his magic teacher, Ombric. "Soph, how would you like to take a trip to the North Pole?"

**A/N: Hey guys! I'm back (even though I updated just last week XP) with a new update for y'all. Yes, I am from the South. So, the winner of the review contest for Chapters 1 and 2 was Jessica North because she came the closest with her answers. (And also because she was the only person who reviwed *tear tear*) So, she will receive the hint. Anyway, here are the culrural references for Chapter 3:**

**1. On one line, I talk about the corridor with one thousand doors, and I mention an army of skeletons. What idiom is this a reference to? (This might just be an American thing. I don't really know.)**

**2. Later, I talk about Skeleton Number Seventeen wearing an Abercrombie & Fitch shirt. I say that it isn't exactly being worn by the average, all American kid. What is this a reference to?**

**3. "I'm Svetlana Seventeen, and I'm crazy." What book is this quote based on? One or two words may not actually be in there though.**

**4. In what movie did Johnny Depp have bright orange hair? Who did he play? What year was it made?**

**5. Here's an obvious one. When Jack wakes up on the pond, he says something. What childhood tale is this a reference to?**

**Good Luck! Like before, you CAN use the internet. Please review with your answers!**


	5. North's Wardrobe and Tooth's Mind

Sophie shivered with excitement. She was _finally _going to the North Pole! It was every kid's dream. Unfortunately, she wasn't there to gawk at the elves or braid the fur of the yetis. She was there on important business. Jack didn't want to risk freezing her to death, so he used a snow globe that he 'borrowed' from North a few days back.

As the duo twisted down the long halls, Jack explained his theory about the symbol to her. She readily agreed. She hadn't seen North in so long! If he could help them out, that would just be icing on the cake.

They neared North's office, and Sophie gently pushed the door open. "North?" she called. When she didn't receive an answer, she continued. "It's Sophie and Jack! We need your help."

Once again, there was no answer. Sophie and Jack shared a look, and together, they trudged into the office. It seemed so quiet and… empty. "Jack, is it always quiet in North's office like this?" she questioned.

"No. No it's not," Jack answered, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. He was worried. Did someone nab North? No, it wasn't possible. Had they seen North's twin swords? The sight of them would have made any mythological creatures run for their mommies, except maybe the Man in the Moon.

They heard a rustling noise come from a large wardrobe in the corner. Another glance was shared, and the silent duo advanced toward the sound. Jack held his staff out in a protective position, taking it upon himself to protect Sophie. He went ahead of her, and he opened the wooden double doors.

At first glance, it appeared that it was just a regular wardrobe with several of North's winter coats hanging up inside of it. However, Jack and Sophie looked deeper. Some sort of noise had come from inside that wardrobe, and they were going to find out what it was. "Hey! Sophie, don't go in there!" Jack called after Sophie as she pushed ahead of him.

Despite Jack's protests, Sophie continued. Frustrated, Jack followed after her, careful not to fully close the wardrobe. As everyone knows, it is a terribly foolish thing to do to shut oneself up in a wardrobe. The duo pushed past coat after coat, and they were growing restless. It was almost as if that wardrobe was endless. It made no sense! It didn't even look that big from the outside!

Sophie's eyes grew wide as she began to hear more distinct noises. "Jack, hurry up! Come listen."

Soon, Jack and Sophie were standing side by side, listening to the garbled voices of elves and yetis. They pressed forward. Where the back of the wardrobe should have been, the room opened up to a large underground cavern. It seemed like a large tunnel that led to nowhere, but it seemed like everything from the workshop had been shoved down there. It looked like some kind of storage garage.

"_Rimsky Korsakov!" _a voice yelled in a strange tone. "I do not remember globe being so heavy. Phil!" North? Sophie ran forward, following the sound of the voice.

"North? North, is that you?" she asked.

The duo jumped down from the high ledge and stumbled upon North, ravaged by sweat. His face was red from strain as he and Phil struggled to push the globe to an empty spot in the cavern. As he saw Sophie and Jack coming towards him, he let go of his side of the Globe and smiled. The Globe tumbled over and crushed Phil. Phil's screams in Yettish were ignored as North walked toward the young group with arms open for a hug. "Jack Frost! Oh, and you brought visitor! Welcome, Sophie."

Sophie ran forward and embraced North the same way she would embrace her father, but then she frowned. "North, why is all of this stuff in here? Shouldn't it be in your workshop?" she asked, confused.

Jack hadn't noticed it when they first came to the Pole, but now he noticed that the silence was all throughout North's home, not just in his office. The usually noisy North Pole was missing the whirring of miniature helicopters, the chugging of icy trains on icy train tracks, and the punches of violent elves. North looked sullen. "It is unfortunate news. Slowly, but surely, my helpers are going missing and my memory is deteriorating. I have decided to move workshop to my old village, Santoff Claussen. Back in the times that the Guardians were created, Santoff Claussen was one of the only safe places from any threat. I first stumbled upon it as a robber, and now I fear that I must return."

"You were a robber?" Jack questioned in a shocked manner with his eyebrows rising. Man, humans _really _got his story wrong.

North waved off the question with his hand. "That is story for another day. What are you doing here? Shouldn't Sophie be in school?"

"We've gotten a little farther in our investigation about Jamie's death," Jack replied. "We found this letter in Jamie's room, and it has this symbol on it. We figured that there was some sort of spell on it because anyone who looks at the symbol suddenly has foggy vision…" he trailed off. "Even me."

Jack took the letter out of the toy sack, and he handed it to North. North's bright blue eyes narrowed as he squinted at the paper. He read over it quickly then looked at the symbol imprinted on the paper. Then, they widened with Wonder, his trademark. "'Tis a very old spell. I remember when I first learned it from Ombric. I thought it didn't amount to much, so I never fully learned the extent of its powers. However, the one you have shown me and the one that I learned are one and the same."

"So what's the spell?" Sophie questioned.

"It is called Sight, simply. The Sight spell blinds people from anything the caster desires. To an extent, it is the same spell that blinds us fairy tale creatures from those who don't believe in us," North answered gravely. "I was afraid of this. This spell means that whoever killed Jamie must have been a mythological creature or a magic student. You are up against something _very _powerful, children."

"Great," Jack said sarcastically. "We're up against another super magical being whose name we don't know, and you're hiding out in some old, abandoned town. Woohoo! Here we come to save the day!"

Sophie was still missing something. She thought about the symbol and the memory that she'd had of Jamie's backpack. One exposure to the symbol didn't bother her much, she remembered. But, she'd looked at it more than once, and later, she'd been diagnosed with dyslexia. Maybe, an overexposure to the magic inside the symbol could permanently damage eyesight. If that were the case…

"North, were you able to read the message in the letter?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, I was," he responded. What was Sophie hinting at?

"Are you, by any chance, dyslexic?" she asked.

"I don't believe so. I'm not really sure. There was no such thing in my time."

_Huh… _thought Sophie. "When you read, do letters sometimes switch places or fly off the page?" North gave a bit of thought and nodded. "Congratulations, North. You have just been diagnosed with dyslexia," she said. So, North was dyslexic. That meant that their dyslexia helped them read the jumbled message in the letter, but it also meant that anyone without dyslexia would have a much more difficult time. The only difference between her dyslexia and his was that he had probably been born with it some odd centuries ago.

This explained why Jack and Pippa were unable to read the note. "Jack, from now on, if we get any more notes from this B.J. guy and his associates, I'm going to be reading them," she declared.

Jack gave her a puzzled look. Was she becoming scatterbrained like Svetlana Seventeen? No, Jack was too scared of that fan girl skeleton to ever let that happen. However, that didn't seem to hide the fact that Sophie was jumping around to random subjects. "Huh?" he asked her, wrinkling his nose.

"My dyslexia helps me read the jumbled message in the paper. Also, I've figured that overexposure to the Sight spell must've been the reason for my dyslexia, otherwise, my sight would have been normal," Sophie explained.

North stared at little Sophie with a hint of mirth still lurking in his eyes despite the serious situation. "You are very special child, Sophie," he complimented. Sophie flushed, and North dug in his pockets. He handed her a special snow globe with gold swirls spiraling down the sides, and it almost looked like a Christmas ornament. "That snow globe will take you to Santoff Claussen if you focus hard enough. Visit anytime."

Sophie beamed and stared in amusement as the snow globe glowed with golden light. Jack patted her head and ruffled her hair like an older brother might do. She really _was _something.

They left the North Pole via 'borrowed' snow globe, and Jack dropped Sophie off in her room. The girl's drooping eyes and stifled yawns had not gone unnoticed, and Jack tucked the young girl in her bed. He almost left as Sophie dozed off when he noticed something. Something flew past the window, a blur of blue and green. If he listened hard enough, he was sure that he heard a little twittering coming from Jamie's room. Was that running water? He cast one glance back at the sleeping girl and went off to investigate.

Jack silently walked toward Jamie's room, dreading his arrival. He had a sneaking suspicion about who was in there, and that person wouldn't be happy when they found out about Jaime. He walked in on a sopping wet Baby Tooth, looking around frantically for the young boy. He was scheduled to lose his last baby tooth the night before, so where was it?

Baby Tooth knew she was late to be coming by on Monday morning, but she was a bit tired out from a couple days ago. Turns out, giving Red Bull to mini-fairies was a _very _bad idea. Needless to say, after the splitting headache was gone, Baby Tooth rushed over to try to get back on schedule. Jamie was gone, but she didn't find it unusual; the boy had school, after all. She checked under his pillow, and nothing was there.

Strange. Jamie always put his tooth under his pillow. Maybe he hid it somewhere else so that his mother wouldn't find it and question him. She checked everywhere, even in the showerhead of Jamie's bathroom. She got her head stuck in one of the holes, and when she pulled it out, she was a bit dizzy. She lost her balance and landed on the faucet. The water turned on, scalding hot, and it dowsed her before she could shut it off.

She flew back into Jamie's room in time to see Jack leaning against the doorpost.

"Long time, no see, huh Baby Tooth?" Jack said casually.

Baby Tooth twittered happily. Then, her face went completely serious, and she tweeted something.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes, my teeth still sparkle like freshly fallen snow. And, I think you should stop looking for Jamie's last tooth," he said ominously.

She twittered curiously, and Jack knew what she was asking. He began telling her the entire story and finished by saying, "I just put Sophie to sleep." Apparently, the tragic tale was too much for the tiny mini fairy. She immediately passed out, at which point Jack sighed warily. It looked like he was just going to have to fly to the Tooth Palace and return her.

…But, it was so far away! And, it was directly above India, one of the hottest countries on Earth. There was no way that he was going to some country so near the Equator unless it was absolutely necessary, like when the Tooth Palace was under attack. He sighed, grabbed another snow globe, and shook it. "I say, Tooth Palace," he said, mimicking North. He'd always wanted to say that.

A portal shaped like a funnel opened up in the middle of Jamie's room, and Jack carefully dropped Baby Tooth in his hoodie pocket. Then he jumped through.

It felt like he was being pulled in and out like an accordion, similar to the feeling he got when Svetlana was shrinking his projection. In less than a minute, Jack was at the Tooth Palace. He beheld it in all of its glory…and also succeeded in making a couple of mini fairies faint as he passed. He headed straight for the center because he knew exactly where Toothiana would be.

"Oh, the horror!" Tooth cried. In her hands, she held a small tooth and brought it to her chest. The tooth was slightly red near the bottom, and there appeared to be a cavity. "Can you believe it, Rashimi?" she asked a mini fairy by her side. "A cavity! That's probably the four-hundred and seventh one today! And, look! It's red on the bottom. That means that it was pulled out _with force! _Who would do that to a poor, innocent child?"

"Ahem," Jack cleared his throat from behind Tooth as she ranted.

Tooth stopped abruptly and turned to face Jack. "Hi, Jack! What brings you here? You know that it's about ninety-nine degrees Fahrenheit outside, don't you? And that doesn't even count the heat index, the pollen count, or the relative humidity."

Jack tugged at his hoodie. "Yeah, don't remind me," he replied irritably. He removed Baby Tooth from his pocket and handed her to Tooth. The poor mini fairy was still out cold, but apparently, that wasn't what mattered to Tooth. She searched Baby Tooth all over.

"Where's Jamie's last baby tooth?" she asked him. "You know how important the last tooth is to me."

Oh, yeah. He knew. Apparently, he fell through the ice on the pond before he lost his last tooth, and Tooth found out about it many centuries later. She came after him with the pliers and an army of aggressive mini fairies to help hold him down. It wasn't a pretty day. In fact, Jack found it extremely disturbing when he heard her whispering '_I got it! I got the tooth'_ to herself after the whole ordeal was over. It slightly reminded him of something he read in _The Hobbit._

Anyway, Jack groaned. He knew that he should feel sorry for Jamie, but right now, he was feeling a little bit sorrier for himself. You can only tell a story so many times before it starts to get boring and repetitive. As he explained the tale to Tooth, he watched her expressions change. They went from anger, to sadness, to shock in a matter of seconds. How could she make so many faces?

"Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry! I wish I could help you out in your investigation, but I'm stuck here. My mini fairies have been disappearing, and now we're a bit overworked with the numbers we have. Some even went so far as to drink Red Bull and 5Hour Energy _together _just to stay awake."

Jack shrugged. He hadn't come here to ask for stuff from Tooth. After all, he had already known the situation because of North, and as he looked around, he saw that the Tooth Palace was in a worse state than the Pole. The long, beautiful towers that spiraled down from the sky were still in tact, which was good because it meant that kids still believed. Other than that, things were pretty un-orderly. Green and blue mini fairies flew around faster than usual, zipping around hyperactively. A few lost baby teeth fell from the sky like rain, and a mini fairy was hiding around a corner, sleeping.

All in all, it was a pretty chaotic place—even more so than usual. Tooth zipped up happily and did a back flip. "I got it!" she said, flashing Jack a full on grin. He winced at her sudden perkiness, and she dialed it down. _Svetlana has gotten to everyone, _Jack thought, disturbed. Baby Tooth woke up, covering her ears.

"I mean, I know what I can do to help you," she explained. She dashed off somewhere and returned with a tiny camera. "I found this on the side of the road that night we were collecting teeth in Europe. It's too small for your hands, but it fits Baby Tooth's perfectly! Take lots of pictures for me, okay?"

Baby Tooth shrugged as Tooth handed her the small camera. Apparently, she was going to solve a murder mystery with Jack and Sophie. That was a new one. Jack backed away, the heat finally getting to him. He started trying to cool himself down by using his hoodie, and Baby Tooth used this as the perfect photo op. "HEY!" Jack shouted as Baby Tooth showed him the picture.

It was a good picture, but it disturbed Jack to know that Baby Tooth could sneakily snap pictures of him without his knowledge. Creepy. He cleared his throat to pretend like he hadn't seen Baby Tooth staring wide eyed at the picture, and he said to Tooth, "I'm glad for the help… just, uh, don't let her take pictures of me when I don't know it, okay?"

Baby Tooth pouted. You take _one _picture, and suddenly, you're some kind of creeper. She followed Jack as he began to take off, only to stop abruptly as he suddenly turned to face Tooth. His icy blue eyes were distant, as if he were thinking a million different things at once. "…Tooth," he began. She saw him glancing between her and Toothiana, and she was puzzled. "Do you know anything about projections?"

Toothiana looked at him like he was insane. How could he not know? "Of course I know about projections! I'm practically an expert at making them by now. Every mini-fairy that you see is a tiny projection of me. That's the reason Baby Tooth looks so much like me—she was the first one I ever made." At this, Baby Tooth beamed proudly.

"Do you use a certain spell to do that?" Jack continued. He had a hunch that there was more to projecting than Psycho Svetlana had been letting on. All of the mini-fairies were solid, yet they were tiny projections of Tooth. If Tooth had found a way to make projections solid with some sort of spell, then his theory about Grimm projecting himself to Jamie's grave could have still been possible.

Tooth looked thoughtful. "It's been a while since I've had to use the spell because it became second nature to me, but the spell was essentially called Multiply. Using the Multiply spell always had some sort of side effect, but I can never think of it, and I can't dwell on it long. My mind always has to be everywhere, y'know?"

"Huh," Jack said. _Side effect? Svetlana had mentioned some sort of side effect. Maybe, both of them have something in common that I'm missing. If they both have something in common but can't remember why they do it, that thing could possibly be the side effect. _"So your mind has to be everywhere at once. No offense, Tooth, but are you scatterbrained? At all?"

Tooth giggled. "Of course I am! I've always been, but I have to be. I have to collect all of the baby teeth in the world _every night. _My mind has to literally be _everywhere._ Why are you asking all of these silly questions?"

"Just a hunch. Thanks for the help Tooth," he said, then turned to Baby Tooth. "I was serious about that picture thing." Baby Tooth flashed a fake smile and hid the camera behind her back. Whoops. When he wasn't looking, she would have to delete a few pictures, no matter how good they were.

He took off, and Baby Tooth followed him close behind. Meanwhile, Jack's mind was reeling. Svetlana and Tooth were more than a little scatterbrained. Maybe, with all of those projections everywhere, it got hard for them to focus on just one subject at a time. Maybe, since a projection was a tiny piece of them, they were essentially giving up part of their minds. It was highly possible that being scatterbrained was the side effect that they had been talking about.

He thought over his suspects, or suspect. Grimm wasn't scatterbrained at all. When he had last seen him in the flesh, Grimm was actually really laid back. The first time Jack saw Grimm at the Pole, North had said something.

"…_Grimm here, well he just can't get things under control. He has been… scatterbrained recently..."_

Grimm was scatterbrained. But, it all went back to Grimm's demeanor. He seemed like a relaxed, chill guy. Kind of like how Jack imagined a college guy in his twenties would be. He treated life like it was some sort of giant after party. Jack decided to store that information away in his brain just for future reference.

Mid-flight, Jack began to wonder. He thought back to that first note that he had found in Jamie's closet. What if Jamie hadn't been trying to write HELP at all? That was Jack's first guess, but now he wasn't so sure. Why would Jamie write a note calling for help if he was dead? And he still couldn't figure out that extra part about Claude and Caleb's address.

Maybe, Jamie was trying to write HELPER, but couldn't fit the E. That would help explain that Jamie's case and the missing helpers were related. He wasn't sure what to do, and he didn't want to proceed without Sophie. Besides, she deserved to know what had happened at the Tooth Palace.

As Jack touched down in Burgess, he couldn't help but notice that there were blue lights flashing over by the Bennett house. He and Baby Tooth shared a worried glance, and the wind propelled them faster. He saw Ms. Bennett rolling a few large suitcases out of the house along with little Sophie, who was carrying a small pink backpack. Jack frowned in concern. Why were the police there? Why did Sophie and her mom have to leave?

"Soph, what's going on?" he asked as he and Baby Tooth landed in a tree branch above the little blonde girl. Sophie cast a look back at her mom, who was getting in the back of the police car, and sped over towards Jack. Her green eyes with gray flecks were red and puffy as if she had been crying again.

"I-I… I had a nightmare, and… and the police showed up, and mommy's being taken in for questioning, and they think she did it, and we can't live in our house no more because the police say it's a crime scene!" Sophie said, rambling. Jack dropped down, and she cried in to Jack's hoodie. "It was so scary!"

Jack stiffened. She had a nightmare. That had Pitch Black written all over it. Who else could have scared the little girl so bad? But, that wasn't possible. The Guardians had fought so hard to lock Pitch away. "What… what was in your dream, hm?" he asked in a comforting whisper.

Sophie sniffled and tried to wipe away her tears, but another onslaught arrived with full force. "Jamie. I was watching him, like I was on the day he died. Only, there was no snowball fight, and it was too late in the day. I remember… it, it was near sunset, and Jamie hadn't come inside. He was just sitting out in the snow, like he was waiting for someone… or _something. _In real life, that had actually had happened, but around that time, I went over to Millie's house for a party. In the dream, I never went, but instead, I was just watching Jamie. It felt like hours, but he finally did something." She shivered, as though the memory was just too horrifying to share.

"Well, what did he do?" Jack asked. This was getting interesting. Maybe, and this one was a stretch, Sophie was being shown what had happened. The newspaper had said that Jamie's abduction had to have happened during a time when no one else was home, so it must have happened around the time Sophie went to this party. Jack could picture it. Jamie was old enough to be left home alone, and Ms. Bennett wasn't worried because she didn't have a clue about what was going on. She took Sophie to her party, and since Mr. and Ms. Bennett were divorced, Mr. Bennett wouldn't have been at home either.

"He started drawing stuff in the snow. He was dragging his leg around, making different markings in the snow. Then, three people showed up." She stared blankly at Jack. "They just _appeared _out of nowhere, Jack. One was wearing a black robe with white stars on it. The next was wearing a white suit and top hat with black stripes, and the one in the middle was wearing a brown overcoat like Pippa described.

"I followed them as they led Jamie out of the backyard to the side of our house. It was the strangest thing because when I saw Jamie's face, it was calm. Definitely not like a person getting kidnapped. I hid beside a bush and watched as the man in the brown overcoat shoved Jamie into a brown Sedan. It was around this time that I actually realized that I was watching the abduction, but after the realization hit, I couldn't move. I was powerless to stop it, and I just sat beside the bush and watched the Sedan drive away."

Jack's suspicion was confirmed, but then, he was confronted with more confusion. Sophie had called the dream a nightmare, but there wasn't really anything scary about it. As a matter of fact, it seemed as though it were meant to be helpful. But, if Pitch was in control of nightmares, how could this one be helpful? "Sophie, are you sure that this was a nightmare?"

"One hundred percent. Every time I've gone to sleep in the past three weeks, there haven't been dreams. Just nothingness. I had assumed that Sandy must've been taking a break, so I dismissed it. Then, I learned that the Sandman's dreamsand had been getting rejected, and everything was clear. Now, I'm having this dream, and I know it wasn't Sandy because it made me so unhappy."

"But, that's weird. That dream seemed more helpful than fear inducing. After all, we know the basic appearances of the men who took Jamie and the getaway car," Jack stated, confused. He failed to see the policeman who was glancing at Sophie, seemingly talking to herself.

"Maybe Pitch was trying to get our attention," Sophie supplied. "Since the other Guardians and spirits are being affected by whatever's going on, couldn't it be safe to assume that he's being affected too? It's possible that Pitch knew we would think something was wrong with this nightmare, so he sent it anyway to bait us into coming down into his lair."

"But why would Pitch need us? If anything, he should be benefiting from this because the Guardians are all in a weak state. We shouldn't go down there, just in case it's all a trap," Jack decided.

Suddenly, a policeman walked up behind Sophie and placed his hand on her shoulder. For a split second, Jack could've sworn that he had seen Jack, but as soon as the look came, it left. The man seemed to just be looking through him. Something about this guy was familiar, but Jack couldn't place it as he began speaking. "Look, sweetheart. I know that this week has been quite hard on you, but try to stay with us, okay? No one is saying your mom is guilty of anything. We just want to make sure we have all of the evidence that we need to solve this case."

His comforting words seemed to have a strange hold on Sophie. She nodded at his hypnotic tone and muttered, "Stay with you… mom not guilty."

Jack was almost won over by his words as well. I mean, he was pretty convincing. _Why not just give up the case? I mean, these guys seem to have everything under control. Besides, what do you know about solving a murder mystery? The closest you've ever come to solving anything was when Tooth asked you to figure out how many mini fairies fainted when you came to the Palace. _Jack chuckled slightly. _Good times. _That voice was really persuasive too. Maybe he should…

Whoa. Jack shook his head to help him snap out of it. What was that? He squinted hard at the police officer. The man was still consoling Sophie, and she was still acting like a mindless drone. Who was this guy, and why was he so able to bend people to his will? Jack stared at Sophie when she turned around again. Her eyes were dilated, and her face was slightly pale. She couldn't seem to snap out of her trance, so Jack took drastic measures.

He vaulted himself back up on top of the tree branch and formed some snow. He kept it suspended in the air with his staff until the time was right, and then, he dropped it.

Snow fluttered down in a heap on top of Sophie. She shook her head and seemed to return to normal while she brushed snow off herself. The policeman behind her made a disgusted face as he shivered and brushed snow off of his hair. "Frickin' snow. Jack Frost's messing with us, isn't he, ankle biter?" While Sophie had her back turned to the police officer, her eyes widened. He had mentioned Jack.

"Oh! Haha… yeah. Winter's really been weird this time of year, hasn't it?" Sophie said, trying to play off her nervousness as she turned back around to face him. Could this strange man with hypnotic words have known about her special friends?

"I guess so," the man replied, eyes distant. He stared up into the tree where the snow had come from, but all he saw was an indistinct figure retreating. He hid a smug grin, as if he had just figured out everything, and he retreated away from Sophie before she could notice it. "You have a nice night now, ya hear?"

"You too!" Sophie called, but under her breath, she muttered, "…As nice of a night I'll have while I'm sleeping on the marble floor of a police station."

Jack stared from his hiding spot in the tree. He caught a glimpse of the man from behind and noticed that he had a strange haircut, like a pattern. _It's him! _Jack thought, his eyes widening in epiphany. He searched the guy's neck for a birthmark, and there it was: a star shaped birthmark located directly under the edge of his hairline. It was the police officer that he had seen while they were in the police station earlier! Jack noticed that a rectangular shape hung from a key chain on the officer's belt.

He was willing to bet that it was his ID. Maybe, if he could get that information, he and Sophie could figure out a little more about this guy. Jack conjured up one of his special snowballs and aimed for the rectangular shape. He brought his arm back like a baseball pitcher would do, and he let her rip. The snowball hit its target, and the ID badge came tumbling off and into the snow. _Bull's-eye! _Jack silently cheered.

The man turned around abruptly as Sophie shot a pointed glare at Jack for putting her in such an awkward situation. She smiled an innocent smile and waved. "Just spreading a little winter cheer! It's been a bit too serious around here recently, don't you think?"

"…Yes… it has, I suppose," the officer said after casting one last suspicious glance at that tree. He strolled off in the direction of the house; probably to make sure everything was ready to be sent down to the station.

When the man was out of earshot, Jack jumped down from the tree and raced toward the fallen badge. "Got it!" he whispered excitedly as he raced back toward Sophie. Baby Tooth was sitting on Sophie's shoulder, and Sophie was just standing there with her arms crossed. When Jack was close enough, she reached out a hand and slapped his arm with more strength than a five year old should have. "Hey! What was that for?"

"For putting me in such an awkward position! What did you think you were doing when you launched that snowball, hm? I felt something weird about that guy, and I really didn't want to be around him any longer than I had to," Sophie said, fuming. So Sophie didn't remember the brainwashing? Interesting.

"Okay, okay, I know that it probably _wasn't _the best idea, but I got something that could help us," Jack said, apologizing.

Sophie's curiosity won out over her rage, and she asked, "What?"

"Well, remember when we were in the police station the other night?" When Sophie nodded, Jack continued, animated. This case was finally getting somewhere! "As I was hiding in my trash can, I saw that last guy coming out of the Questioning Room. I wasn't sure if it was the same guy or not, but then I saw his haircut and his birthmark."

"So, how does a guy with a weird haircut and a birthmark help us? There are plenty of guys like that," Sophie argued.

"I was sure that it was the same guy, so I threw that snowball to get his ID card. Maybe we can learn more about this person. By the way his words were so hypnotic, I have a feeling that this man isn't all he seems, and he may not even be human at all."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's check it out!"

Jack opened up the black ID case carefully, as if it could disintegrate or self-destruct. His icy blue eyes grazed over the words, absorbing their full content. _"Name: Bernard James. Age: 46. Height: 5'6". Occupation: Burgess City Police Officer. Time Active: 1 week."_ Jack stared. There seemed to be nothing important there, but he knew he was missing something.

Sophie fumed. "Jackson Overland Frost! You made me keep talking to that creepy guy so you could get a five line ID card?"

Jack winced at her tone. "No need to use full names…" he muttered. Her words flooded his mind and repeated over and over, like a broken record. _Jackson Overland Frost… Jackson Overland Frost… Jackson Overland Frost… _he thought. Something about that seemed familiar, besides the fact that it was his name. In his mind, Sophie's voice sounded like a man's. _Jackson Overland Frost, _the man's voice said. _"Greetings, Sophie Amelia Bennett and Jackson Overland Frost…"_

Jack gasped and hugged Sophie abruptly. She stared at him like he had gone insane when he muttered "B.J." into her ear. He let her go and stared back at the ID card, more specifically, the name "Bernard James." His initials were obviously B.J., but that had to be a coincidence, right? Well, it was possible that it was the same person. After all, there was a spell on the first message that B.J. had sent the duo, and this "Bernard James" person seemed to have some sort of magical power that let him control people when he spoke.

The winter spirit voiced his theory to Sophie, and she just breathed a sigh of relief in knowing that Jack's mind was still intact… somewhat. "Oh, okay," she said breathily. "Well, what do we do now?"

"Sophie!" a voice called out from the police car. Ms. Bennett stuck her head out, and worry lines creased her face. She looked tired, like she could crash at any given moment. Jack felt sorry for her. No parent should've felt that kind of stress. "Come on! We have to get to the station."

Sophie cast one last look at Jack. "Before you leave," she began. "Could you drop by my room? I left my fairy wings on my desk."

Jack nodded silently, and Sophie took off, her pink backpack and blonde hair fluttering behind her. The wind lifted him up, and he flew to Sophie's window sill. He watched Baby Tooth zip around the other parts of the crime scene, probably taking pictures for future reference. He motioned her over, and the mini fairy sped towards him, chirping all the way. "Did you catch all that?" he asked.

Baby Tooth nodded enthusiastically and twittered something back. Jack didn't quite catch the last part, but he understood well enough. "Nah, Sophie's okay. She's a strong little kid. I just hope I can protect her if she's threatened… she's not immortal like I am," he responded as he ducked through the open window. Pink curtains fluttered and flapped in Jack's face at the sudden wind, but he didn't mind.

When he flipped on the light switch, the scene that greeted him was generally astounding. Sophie's bed was unmade, her drawers were all open, and her pictures were all over the floor. He didn't question the room's disheveled appearance, however, because the small family was rushed to leave in the middle of the night. It was possible that Sophie had been looking for something, probably her stuffed lion, Chichi.

Jack grabbed the wings off of her desk and noticed that the TV was still on. Baby Tooth flew above him, near the ceiling, and snapped pictures of the whole room. Jack tuned in to the television, which was set to a news station. "They're Here!" the headline read in an Exorcist girl-like tone.

One of Jack's eyebrows rose slightly. Who was here? Apparently, Baby Tooth was interested as well because Jack heard the camera stop flashing, and she came to rest on his shoulder. They shared a look and turned back toward the television.

A male announcer on the TV was standing in a cornfield next to a farmer in some part of Pennsylvania. He held a microphone marked with 'Channel 2' to his mouth and began to speak in a professional manner. "Thanks, Barbara, for that lovely interview with Dr. Barnes, expert on all things alien. We're here in Allentown, Pennsylvania with an agricultural farmer named Bo Gregory Thomas III. He is a new resident of Allentown, recently making a move from southern Arkansas. He has claimed to have seen yet another UFO, as well as crop circles randomly appearing in his corn field. Here's the footage of the sighting from 5:00 p.m. today."

A short clip was shown of a ball of white light floating across the sky. Baby Tooth shuddered, and the cameras cut back to the news anchor and Bo Gregory Thomas III. "Now, ever since two weeks ago, on Wednesday, January 22, we have received multiple reports of alien sightings and strange phenomena. Mr. Gregory, would you mind describing what you saw today?"

The news anchor held the mic out in front of Bo Gregory's face, and he spoke. "Well, Phil, I was out tendin' to my fields. The air was, uh, kinda chilled which was normal for winter, but, sir, on this'n particuluh night, it seemed kinda charged with energy. I gazed up at the sky, right here where we standin', and I done seen a glowin' ball of light. It zipped 'cross the sky real fast-like, mhmm—sure did, and it, uh, it paused right 'bout there," he said, pointing to the distance. "Then, it just disappeared. I called the Miss, and we headed down there where we seen the crop circle."

"Fascinating," the news anchorman, now known as Phil, remarked. He shook hands with Bo Gregory and said, "Back to Barbara in the studio."

"Thanks, Phil. What a fascinating story indeed. Now, if the viewers at home will look at this map, you will see that all of the alien sightings have occurred along this narrow strip of land. It has recently become a minor tourist attraction, and many eccentrics are referring to this area as 'Alien Road.' We will continue watching this location and notify you of any new developments."

The end music played, and Jack rose, wide eyed. "She called the place 'Alien Road,'" he said, astonished. He reached into the toy sack that was tied to his staff and pulled out the first note from Jamie. "_Remember, Claude and Caleb's house is at 4075 Alien Road, love Jamie," _Jack read aloud for Baby Tooth's benefit.

Maybe 'Alien Road' wasn't an address in itself, but an actual location. And, if 'Alien Road' were an actual location in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Jamie must have been hinting that he and Sophie needed to go there! Baby Tooth twittered proudly as though she'd been the first to come to this conclusion. Her green and blue eyes shined with child like mirth as she did a back flip in the air, and Jack couldn't help but roll his eyes. She was too enthusiastic.

"Calm down," Jack reprimanded kindly.

Baby Tooth chirped something else and motioned towards her camera. "I'll look at the pictures later," Jack began, and Baby Tooth huffed. "Right now, we have to…" He was suddenly cut off by a slight ringing. Jack sighed warily, knowing full well who it was, but Baby Tooth stared at him inquisitively. She followed the sound to the toy bag as Jack reached in and pulled out Jamie's cell phone.

"_Bravo, my young detective! You've figured out about Alien Road. Let's just hope you live long enough to make it to Allentown," _Jack read the text aloud. He sighed once again, more certain that he was being watched by the 'Blocked Number' guy than he had ever been before. How else would he have known that Jack was alone? The mere fact that he called Jack 'young detective', singular form, showed that he knew Sophie had gone to the police station, or at least wasn't with Jack.

Baby Tooth, however, wasn't so conditioned. She quaked, and her feathers ruffled. Her eyes darted around the room in hopes of catching a glimpse of their invisible visitor, but there was no one. She darted under one side of the bed and out the other, but there was still nothing. Jack saw her discomfort, and he sat down and beckoned her over.

He smoothed her feathers and said, "It's alright. Sophie and I—we've been dealing with this guy for a while now, but he hasn't hurt either of us." He made a show of standing up and turning in a circle just to prove his point. "See? I'm fine, Sophie's fine, and you'll be okay too. So don't worry about it."

Baby Tooth seemed to calm down, and Jack continued with a little bit more spirit. "Come on. Soph's probably going to want to know what just went down." He clutched the fairy wings in one hand and his staff in the other, and they both flew out the window, careful to close it behind them. Together, they zoomed off to the police station.

**A/N: Alright, so here's the next chapter! rats xp reviewed with the most correct answers, so she (I'm assuming it's a she) received the hint. By the way, rats, sorry about that. It definitely wasn't as good as it could have been, but I was rushing to get home. Anyway, I purposefully didn't put any questions here for you because I want YOU, the reader, to look for them yourselves. It'll be kind of like a scavenger hunt! The person who reviews with the most correct answers will get the hint as always, so good luck!**

**(is actually too lazy and is late for class)**


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